Workforce Management Archives

[VIDEO] Job Requisition Approval Process

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Is your organization struggling to get job openings approved by relevant managers across multiple locations in a timely fashion? Do delays in the job requisition approval process cost your company money, time and lost applicants?

If so, then consider incorporating an automated job approval tool into your hiring workflow. In this video, learn how the optional requisition management feature within the HireCentric applicant tracking system can help organizations to better control the time frame and costs involved with the recruiting process.

Schedule a live demonstration to see the job requisition management feature in action.

Transcript:

An easy-to-use job approval process is key to a consistent, controlled approach to managing your hiring efforts and staying within budget.

ExactHire’s applicant tracking software has an optional requisition management feature that allows small and mid-sized companies to digitize the job approval process.

With the flexibility to allow both hiring managers and HR administrators to start new requisitions, companies can customize the approval process by business unit or even by job listing.

It’s easy for hiring managers to access the Requisitions tab and click the green plus icon to start a new request.

Configure user logins to give managers access only to templates within their department.

Then, managers complete the quick and easy form, customized for your company, to capture whatever job info you require…for example, number of openings, salary grade, job board preferences, and budgetary considerations.

The management approval chain can vary by user or job. With HireCentric, HR Admins may pre-configure approval layers for groups of users; or, allow them to choose the appropriate requisition approval layers for themselves.

Once a request is launched, the first recipient logs in to view details and then may simply approve or deny it. Leaving comments is optional.

If declined, the requesting manager receives a notification and may make edits. Once approved by all layers, an HR Administrator receives notice.

Then, with just a few clicks, the HR Admin can push the job to external job boards and social media sites.

Having a paperless job approval process allows your business to streamline hiring…getting jobs posted and applicants sourced more quickly. Forget the pains of paper pushing and waiting for wet signatures – ask ExactHire about requisition management and our applicant tracking system.

To see the HireCentric requisition approval feature in action, please schedule a live demonstration or request a free 14-day trial.

How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards and Internet Search, Tip 3

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

What’s in a job’s name? Sometimes…not enough. Particularly, if the job opportunity your company is trying to fill has an über common job title. So common in fact, that its chances of appearing near the top of search results for your intended applicant audience are nil. In my third installment of the “How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search” blog series, I’ll discuss three techniques for giving your job title (and therefore job description) a fighting chance of being seen by the right candidates.

#1 – Research Employers Targeting the Same Applicant Pool

Let’s say that you have a “Project Manager” opportunity within your smaller organization. If your business is small or mid-sized, then it may be sufficient to simply refer to this role as a Project Manager among internal staff members…even if the role is focused on project management within IT security, for example. However, when it comes to pushing your available job listing to external job boards (like CareerBuilder, Monster, Dice, Indeed, etc.), using “Project Manager” as your advertisement title is pretty vanilla and unlikely to put your unique opportunity at the top of the results list for the best-qualified, most engaged applicants for your role.

So, how do you pick an effective and more specific job title that will appeal to individuals who will be a good fit for your role? Start by making a list of other organizations with which you often compete for talent in a given job category. Initially, do a search on the job boards that you intend to use by typing in Project Manager. NOTE: If you do not use quotation marks when you type in this title, then you will see a list of the most relevant (and typically recent) job listing results that include both the words “project” and “manager” somewhere in the job listing…though they may not actually all be “Project Manager” positions. Then, try a Boolean search using “Project Manager” in quotations to see all the job listings that have an exact match to that two-word phrase…these are more likely to be roles that stay true to the keyword phrase. Your two separate search results lists may very well be quite different.

Next, search for job listings posted by your competitors for top talent. What names are they using for their job titles, and on what page of the search results do you encounter these titles? If they are near the top of the list for a keyword search that is likely to be similar to a search done by one of your applicants (check out #2 below to see how your applicants are searching), then your organization should pick the same kind of job title. If their listings are buried in the search results, then don’t mimic their naming technique.

#2 – Reference Keyword Analytics in Your Applicant Tracking System

Odds are that if you are using one of the best applicant tracking systems, you have a treasure trove of analytical information about your careers site visitors at your fingertips. A solid ATS will feature access to in-depth analytics tools…often available through an integration with a product like Piwik or Google Analytics. Within your analytics package, take a look at the data on which keyword phrases are referring traffic to your careers site from different search engines. Take it a step further and see which phrases are resulting in conversions – this typically includes both applications started and applications completed within your applicant tracking software. While you will find that some keywords referencing certain job titles may bring a lot of traffic to your site, that doesn’t necessarily mean that those site visitors find what they are seeking…which would be evident if they bounce and do not start or complete an application.

Look for trends in the reported keyword phrases that do result in completed applications, and then continue to utilize those words in your job titles and descriptions. Or, if some of the keywords reported do not result in conversions but you feel strongly that the tides could change with some minor adjustments, then start incorporating those keywords into actual job description titles. Understand that visitors may be referred to your careers portal because those keywords are present in the body of job descriptions; however, if they don’t see the keywords in a job title once they land on your job openings page, then they may never click through to the description to find them, and then convert to submitting an application.

NOTE: When reviewing your reporting and analytics data, you will only see a subset of all keyword phrases used by applicants as some search engines will restrict sharing the keywords used to refer traffic (for example, Google won’t share keywords used by individuals who are signed into a Google-owned account type while conducting a search).

#3 – Be Descriptive and Double Down on Your Job Title

While it may be not be practical for an employee to have a job title that is more than seven words long on a business card, it’s not a crime to advertise a job listing with a different title than what will actually be used internally once an employee is hired. Going back to our Project Manager example, this two-word title just may not cut it in the search results. However, if you add some more words to the title…like synonyms, location details, certifications required, etc., then your opportunity is more likely to be seen by applicants who have a clear vision of their ideal job.

For example, try “IT Project Manager – Security Analyst Job – Indianapolis” instead of just “Project Manager.” Why? Because search engines and job boards give more weight to titles in search results because they are often denoted by h1, h2 and/or h3 tags — these tags are a more significant part of a site’s source code structure. Also, you are casting a wider net to make other applicants aware of your job…like individuals who don’t necessarily search for project manager but perhaps something similar (like “IT Security Manager,” “IT PMP” or “IT Security Analyst,” etc.).

Secondly, reiterate the title of your job (or even the shortened version – Project Manager) in the first line of your job description. You know from “How to Write a Job Description Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search, Part 2” that the first lines in the description often make up the snippets of content in search results…which again, are given more weight by search engines and job boards when ranking results. If you’re skeptical, check out the job listing results on Indeed in the image below…notice that the only “Project Manager” results returned for a Project Manager search (without quotation marks) in Indianapolis also have the title in the first line. The job listings that don’t double down on including the title are buried in other pages of results and less likely to be seen by applicants.

Next time you push a job listing to an external source, remember to think carefully about title selection. By researching other employers in your space, incorporating data from your applicant tracking system’s analytics and using keywords appropriately, you will be more likely to improve the response for your job listing.

How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards and Internet Search, Tip 2

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

It’s pretty easy to find advice about writing compliant job descriptions, but it can be harder to make sure those same descriptions translate into engaging blurbs on job board search results pages…that is, blurbs or “snippets” that are guaranteed to pique the interest of your potential applicants as they pore over pages of competitive job listings. But, there isn’t a single right away to approach writing job listings for search; in fact, crafting effective, “crawlable” job descriptions for your organization is largely dependent on the labor market for your position, your applicant demographic, organizational culture and whether or not you pay to sponsor your ads on otherwise free boards — such as Indeed. In this second installment of this “How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search” blog series, I’ll specifically discuss how to take a situational approach to writing the first few lines of a job description.

Use Smart Snippets

Let’s start off by looking at some general search results on the first page of a search for jobs in Indianapolis, IN. In particular, examine the snippets (also called meta descriptions) that summarize the first sentence or two under each position title. Unless the author of a web page specifically designates a meta description in the source code, then search engines and job boards will pull the first line or two of body text from your page. In my experience, the latter is the norm in the case of job listing search results.

As you can see, the job listing content included in each snippet varies with position. Whether or not the approach employed by each organization will work depends, again, on the job’s demand, demographic, culture and pocketbook. Take a closer look…

Consider Labor Market for Your Jobs

If sourcing applicants with the right qualifications, and availability to work, for one of your positions is comparable to spotting Sasquatch in your backyard, then you probably have some labor market-related considerations to examine. For example, if your position type is super easy to stumble upon in search results (i.e. there are hundreds with the same job title), and especially if the minimum qualifications do not require advanced professional degrees or experience, then one of your biggest applicant screening filters may be the days and times of the week that individuals are available to work.

With that in mind, the best job listing introduction might be a summary of the shift days and hours, as in the blue highlighted example from our sample search results. This works especially well if the employment application process for this position also includes questions designed to elicit responses from applicants on whether they meet basic minimum qualifications. For example, whether the applicant has the ability to work a certain shift on certain days might be an appropriate question. Ask your applicant tracking system provider about using scoring and disqualification filters on these types of questions to streamline the applicant screening process.

For frequently posted positions where hours aren’t the screening focus, it is good practice to restate the title of the job listing in the first sentence. This technique isn’t as much about engaging applicants as it is about increasing the frequency of desired keywords (more on this in a future post) — see pink highlighted examples. The more often you include the job title and/or similar names (up to a certain reasonable point), the more likely your job listing will rank higher in the list of results for an applicant searching using that keyword.

Know Your Target Applicant Pool

Think about your dream candidate for a specific position. How savvy is he/she at web search? Will he/she think beyond just searching for job titles, and also search for specific duties or required certifications associated with your job listing? Or, even if an applicant won’t necessarily search for those terms, he/she might be more likely to click on your job listing in search results if your snippet displays a reference to an essential job requirement that he/she finds appealing. This is another way to differentiate your listing from other job postings that don’t discuss duties until later in the full job description. So, while the two below listing results are for different types of positions, which one gives you more actual, engaging information about the job at a quick glance? And a glance is often all you have in today’s recruiting landscape…

If you picked the green job listing over the orange one, then you get the recruiting gold star for the day! If you picked the orange one, then check out tips on company summary placement in How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards & Internet Search, Part 1.

Be Snazzy If You Sponsor

As with all aspects of the talent acquisition process, the organizational culture of your company should shape your approach to writing job descriptions, as well. If part of your recruiting brand is to be energetic and fun, then you might want to take a more informal approach to writing the text of some of your job descriptions. Think about the behavioral characteristics of candidates who will thrive in the position that you are posting. Will they be persuaded to click and eventually apply to a snazzier, more tantalizing description of your organization and/or the position? Probably. Most people do aspire to like the work they do, after all. I especially see this approach with sales positions – which makes sense since persuasion is often a coveted skill for a successful business development employee.

However, if you are relying on this approach to carry you to the top of organic (i.e. unpaid) search results on search engines and job boards, make sure you carefully account for the prominence of your organization’s name and how difficult it is to fill this type of position in your decision making process. Take note of the yellow highlighted positions in our search results…one thing they all have in common is that they are sponsored ads and so their placement, or the ease with which someone may apply, earns premium attention. If your strategy or plan for a job posting does NOT include paying for special status, then you’ll likely be more heavily reliant on using relevant keywords and job information in your first few lines of text.

A Parting Thought on Pay

If you didn’t notice already, some of the snippets in our sample search results included information about the compensation for the position. However, that doesn’t always mean that the first few lines of the position description include pay info. In fact, if the compensation information is preceded by an ellipsis (…) in the snippet, then you know that the job board or search engine just appended that information after finding it somewhere else in the full job listing. The job board is really helping you out by displaying your opportunity in such a way that many job-seekers will self-select out of your application process because they have a different income expectation. However, as you consider how your job description preview will appear in search result snippets, know that if you do include salary or hourly wage information in your listing, it will likely appear in the snippet; thus, shortening the text displayed from the beginning of your description.

Now that you are familiar with the different techniques organizations may use to engage potential applicants in the snippet area of search results, it is time to evaluate your own job listings, applicant pool, culture and budget to determine which method will suit your needs. Be on the lookout for future blogs in this series that discuss choosing job posting titles and keywords.

In search of a tool that makes it easy to post job listings to external job boards and search engines? Schedule a live demo of our applicant tracking software (ATS) today!

How to Write Job Descriptions Optimized for Job Boards and Internet Search, Tip 1

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

It can be challenging to write a thorough and compliant job description that will satisfy your human resources and legal departments, while at the same time making it…dare I say…sexy enough to cause potential applicants to click through for more information or to apply for your job. After all, most job seekers won’t just know that your company is hiring and think to go directly to your applicant tracking software careers page; in fact, many will see your job listing for the first time on external job boards or previewed in Google SERPs (search engine results pages). You hope they see your job listings there, that is.

If you use the right techniques to write effective, search-friendly job descriptions, then your target audience of applicants will notice your job listings on search engines and job boards like Indeed, Monster, CareerBuilder, etc. This blog is the first in a series I’m writing about how to find the happy medium between including must-have job content and optimizing your job listings for search. In this post, we’ll begin to cover the strategy behind the actual words you use in your job descriptions, as well as the order in which you place them.

Reorder Your Job Listing Content

Depending on the size of your organization, the frequency of hiring and/or the brand association with your company name, you may regularly include an “about us” or company overview paragraph in each of your job descriptions. This can be especially true of companies that are a little smaller or less well-known, and is often an area used to showcase the basic info about the product or service of the organization, as well as some commentary about the company culture. Here’s an example:

So while this overview section is often placed at the beginning of a job description, that placement might actually be hampering this job listing’s click-through rate (CTR) from certain sets of search results. For example, search engines will display the first 160 or so characters of a page’s body text (unless a specific meta description has been designated by your webmaster for that page). In the case of the above job description, we see in the Google search results highlighted below that the text displayed is the company overview section – because it was at the beginning of the job description.

For some of your applicants this may not be a big deal, but others will move on to the next search result for a different job that better describes the actual position in the first few lines – this may especially be the case for highly competitive job titles that return many pages of search results.

Examine Search Results Within External Job Boards

So how do the results for this example job listing appear in different job boards?

CareerBuilder:

Indeed:

As you can see, results vary from one board to the next. For example, on CareerBuilder the company overview header is squished ahead of part of the body text. On Indeed, the first few lines of the “Position Overview” section of the job listing are displayed. While this is actually the best scenario because that section should have all the meat, I’m not sure that the most compelling information to attract candidates is the fact that the applicant would be supporting a certain office.

So, why take a gamble on what information will appear in search results for your job listings? Instead, keep the company overview section – but put it at the end of your job listing. Then, write an engaging first sentence that restates your job title and includes relevant keywords to grab the attention of potential applicants as they scan through hundreds of similarly named job title search results. Stay tuned for future blogs in this series discussing keyword use and job titles.

Interested in learning how ExactHire’s applicant tracking software can help optimize your job listings for search? Contact us today to schedule a live demo.

[VIDEO] Social Recruiting Tools

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Considering the ever-increasing number of social media users, savvy recruiting and human resources professionals are now, more than ever, pushing job postings to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media sites in order to generate a larger potential pool of applicants for career opportunities with their organizations. With the right applicant tracking software, reaping the benefits of social recruiting tools can be fast and easy.

In this video, see how ExactHire’s applicant tracking system integrates with social media networks and simplifies the task of promoting your job openings.

Transcript:

Using word of mouth in the recruiting process is one of the most effective and long-standing ways to attract talent. Imagine its power amplified through the use of social media networks.

ExactHire’s applicant tracking software offers many different social recruiting features. There are hundreds of millions of users on Twitter and LinkedIn each month – even over a billion on Facebook. Therefore, leveraging social media in today’s talent acquisition landscape is a must!

Your careers site visitors can easily share your jobs with friends on many different social networks. Encourage your own recruiting staff and employees to regularly visit your Jobs page and share openings, too.

While HireCentric ATS engages your active job seekers with a branded careers portal and job postings optimized for search, passive applicants can also interact with your employment brand over time by subscribing to automated job alerts via email.

Use our Facebook app to install a Jobs tab right on your company page. That way, your Facebook visitors can see all your current openings without leaving Facebook. The fewer clicks applicants must make to get to job info, the more employment applications you will receive.

If you’re spending too much time announcing new jobs on company social media sites, you’ll want to use an integration that automatically posts status updates to your company Facebook wall or Twitter page each time you create a new job listing. Post to personal LinkedIn pages, too.
Choose how often the posts occur and include hashtags to make it easy for job seekers to find your updates.

Social recruiting allows your company to exponentially increase its talent pool with little effort. With the power of social sharing, attract the best talent by improving your odds of reaching people with the right opportunity at the right time.

To see our recruiting software’s social media tools in action, we encourage you to schedule a live demonstration or do a free 14-day trial.

[VIDEO] EEO and OFCCP Reporting – HireCentric ATS

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Keeping up with compliance-related EEO and OFCCP reporting tasks is one of the many essential responsibilities for human resource professionals employed by federal contractors today. From assessing whether applicants’ qualifications meet minimum job requirements to including diversity posting sources in your external job board mix to generating applicant flow logs, there are many factors to coordinate for an affirmative action-minded employer.

Finding an effective applicant tracking system to help automate these tasks allows an organization to make HR paperless and reduce overhead costs. In this video, ExactHire shows how the HireCentric ATS can accommodate the reporting needs of a company’s affirmative action plan program.

Are you a federal contractor that would like to evaluate options for automating your compliance reporting efforts? Schedule a live demo with ExactHire.

Transcript:

HireCentric ATS makes it simple to attach minimum qualification questions to jobs, and the system automatically disqualifies any applicants who fail to meet minimum requirements. Then, quickly view the disqualified applicants for a specific job and assign them a reason for non-selection.

Invite applicants to voluntarily self-identify EEO information within your branded portal stating that you are an equal employment opportunity employer. Hiring managers won’t see EEO information as they review applicants…survey answers are kept separate so that only HR Admins can run compliance reports.

It’s simple to assign a reason for non-selection. Save as many disposition status codes as you need to explain the why and when of each applicant’s departure from the hiring process. The ATS records the date and time for each status assignment so that it can be viewed from the applicant’s record as well as on compliance reports.

Automatically maintain an applicant flow log that contains information necessary to perform an adverse impact analysis. Customize the log to include must-have affirmative action info such as EEO-1 category, Job Group, disposition code, race and gender. And, export your reports with the click of a button.

Use our built-in job posting service with tons of external job boards to save time.
And, access a record of your posting history, including diversity sources and local employment agencies.

The HireCentric applicant tracking system is a key part of your compliance toolkit, and will easily meet your EEO & OFCCP reporting requirements, while also maintaining a positive recruitment brand.

Hiring Technology In Layman’s Terms

in Workforce Management/by Christa Wynk

When I hired on at ExactHire, I honestly had NO idea what this company did. I had never dealt with applicant tracking systems and onboarding before. These were words that might as well have been foreign! To make it more interesting, my family and friends wanted to hear all about my new job and what services we provided…. I had a hard time explaining, at first.

I am an accounting person, a number geek if you will. I have some sales and marketing background but overall, I have always preferred the role as a “bean counter.” Business school had taught me some basic HR ideas and terms. Being at ExactHire has certainly broadened that scope. Interestingly enough, I had just been out on the job search… applying to jobs online, talking to recruiters and searching all the job posting sites out there. I got pretty good at filling out all the online applications. Ironically, I now work for a company that has web-based options for making hiring easier for any company.

Basically ExactHire has three different products:

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
Employee Onboarding Software (aka making new hire paperwork paperless)
Employee Assessments

Employee Assessments Explained

Assessments are pretty self-explanatory; you answer a bunch of questions about yourself and get a report back on your cognitive skills and/or behavioral traits, depending on the assessment type. An understanding of how you are “wired” will help both you and your employer ensure that you have the best possible chance of job fit with your intended position. Every new employee at ExactHire takes one of these, and the version I took reminded me of the tests you take as a junior in high school when you are deciding what to do for the rest of your life (because 17 year olds are good at big decisions!)!

Onboarding Software and Going Paperless

Onboarding software is also pretty easy to explain… we make hiring a new employee easy and paperless!! Yes, being GREEN is important (and trendy). The client tells us what forms they need their new employees to fill out (from I-9’s to tax and direct deposit forms just to name a few), and we provide those for them – paperlessly (is that a word?!).

Understanding Applicant Tracking Systems

Finally, the big mystery – what is an applicant tracking system? Basically, ExactHire provides a web site to each of our clients to help with their hiring needs. The client can post jobs, track applicants that apply and manage any resumes that are submitted. It’s actually quite brilliant! There are tons of benefits to this technology as well. The company can reach more potential candidates by pushing listings to external job boards, too. The recruitment process is more efficient and consistent. This allows each company to enhance its employment “brand” and customize its priorities for applicants. The hiring team can search through their database of applicants to find those that fit certain requirements while saving info of others, who may be a good fit down the road. Overall, this is perfect for making good hiring decisions so that each of our clients can build their best team.

At ExactHire, we strongly believe in the importance of job fit. Using all three of these products can make the hiring process much more pleasant for the applicant as well – which means good “word of mouth” advertising for your company. FREE positive advertising…who doesn’t need that!? Now next time you hear “ATS” or “onboarding” in a conversation (because that could happen!) you will know exactly what those terms mean!

Image credit: finding balance by woodleywonderworks (contact)

Employee Onboarding: Make the First Days Memorable – in a Good Way!

in Workforce Management/by Randi Renee Doerr, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

We always hear that first impressions matter. Immediately our minds gravitate toward meeting people in business and social settings, interviews or even sales calls. Why don’t we think of the first impression we make when we add a new employee to our company?

The goal at any company should be that the new prospect will be so impressed and wowed by his/her first day that he/she goes home and tells someone that it was the “best first day on the job EVER.”

Instead…what we often hear is that new employees spend most of their first day filling out papers, watching safety videos and learning about insurance and benefit elections. How impressive is that? At the end of that day, my bet is that many new employees go home frustrated and exhausted, but not exhilarated.

While, admittedly, the first day is not totally indicative of your company’s culture, I believe that it at least needs to fit with your culture. Remember that it is a journey on which the new employee is beginning to embark.

So how do you get there from here?

Take an honest look at your recruitment & employment brand

Examine the messaging that you use to correspond with applicants from your applicant tracking system. Be sure that you are selling your company, your culture and the uniqueness of your organization.

Do you have any videos or testimonials from current employees? Make sure that you communicate with applicants throughout the selection process so they feel valued – using existing resources such as these makes it easier. There is nothing worse than an applicant applying for a job in your company and feeling his/her information fell into a black hole.

Remember, applicants will tell their friends and family when they have had a great or a bad experience.

The selection and hiring process will be the first impression a candidate has of your company and will [hopefully] set the expectation that working for your company will be different – in a good way!

A positive employee onboarding process

After you interview the candidate and he/she accepts your offer, consider some the following ideas of how you can make the first day at work unique:

Put up a welcome sign with the employee’s name on it.
Have a welcome reception so new employees can meet their coworkers.
Identify a mentor that can help the new hire with his/her transition to your organization. This is especially helpful for allowing the new employee to learn about your company culture.
Have co-workers take the new employee to lunch on the first day. This will also help with acclimating the employee to the area including schools, day care, dry cleaners, where to go to lunch, etc.
Make sure to point out unique things about your company that new hires should know – such as, history of how it got started, attitude on community service, awards won, etc. Take it to the next level and create a fun and informal company culture guide book to hand out to new employees.
Send a gift or card to the new employee’s home soon after his/her first day so his/her significant other feels connected to your organization. This could be as simple as pictures taken on the first day or a dinner certificate to a local restaurant.
Spread out some of the drudgery of completing all the initial paperwork so it is not so overwhelming for the new teammate. Consider the use of employee onboarding software to streamline the process.
Have new employees complete a short bio form that asks them interesting personal facts such as hobbies, where they grew up, etc. Then, distribute these forms to all employees so they can immediately feel connected to the new hires and find some common ground and conversation starters. You could store all employee information forms electronically so new and existing employees alike could read them and learn about their colleagues.
If you used an employee assessment to help determine the candidate’s potential for optimal job fit during the hiring process, then this would be a great time to review those results with the new employee, as well. The net effect is it will help shorten the learning curve.

I’m sure many of you have developed your own great ideas on how to make the first day at work memorable. Please share ideas that have worked well for your organization by submitting a comment.

Feature Image Credit: Fireworks by Thor(contact)

Make a Business Case for Paperless HR Software – How to Talk Your Boss’s Language

in Workforce Management/by Jeff Hallam

A challenge for many Human Resource professionals has always been getting a seat at the proverbial table. In other words, how can HR and the workforce, in general, be viewed less as an expense and more as an asset? After all, that’s what we all want, right?

Speak the Same Business Language

One of the primary reasons this remains a difficult task is because the language and analytics traditionally used by human resources professionals may not be as meaningful to others in leadership roles. For instance, while turnover percentage and time-to-fill are reliable indicators to many in the human resources arena, these HR metrics don’t necessarily translate well to CFOs, COOs, or presidents.

In many of my conversations with prospective clients, I hear this same scenario played out again and again. However lately, I’m seeing more frequent instances where changing how HR folks think to more closely align with other organizational leaders can turn this tide. Let’s take human capital, for instance. In particular, let’s focus on applicants and new hires, as that’s where our solutions work for most companies.

When adding applicant tracking software or employee onboarding software, many HR leaders focus primarily on justifying these web-based software applications by focusing on efficiencies gained and/or staff time saved. While these points certainly have merit, they also fall outside the common terminology of most finance and operations leaders. Because efficiency and staff time saved in HR are difficult to quantify and not directly attributable to the bottom line, these savings are usually discounted or dismissed entirely.

However, focusing on what direct impact those efficiencies can have on the revenue growth or profitability of the organization changes that conversation completely. Here’s what I mean – instead of focusing on time saved, work with metrics that are meaningful to your boss.

Metrics That Are Meaningful to the Bottom Line

Revenue per employee and profit per employee are very common ways to look at your workforce as an asset. Fewer employees with more revenue equals more profit — nothing too complicated about that. Thinking this way allows the human resources department to make a true business case for recruiting automation that will resonate with other leaders. Logically, here’s the case:

Automating job board postings and using social media recruiting tools drives more applicant traffic to the organization
Allowing applicants to apply online (vs. paper applications or emailed resumes) converts more applicant traffic to actual applications
Leveraging job screening questions allows the recruiting team to focus on the higher quality applicants more quickly — even with a potentially higher volume of applicants
Focusing more effort and spending more time with those quality applicants leads to hiring better people — this will be even more pronounced if you choose to utilize employee assessments to increase your potential for optimal job fit across your workforce
Good employees ramp up more quickly, stay longer and perform better than average employees
This drives more revenue, improves customer satisfaction, reduces operating costs, improves output, and the list of positive benefits goes on…

Now you’re making a business case for using solutions, instead of asking for something under the appearance that it will simply make life easier for you and your staff.

This may not happen overnight in your organization, but continuing to think more like your boss and communicating in his or her terms will improve your perceived value to the organization. Oh yeah…it will also help you get more of what you want and need for you and your team.

For help with making a business case for paperless HR software in your organization, please contact ExactHire.