The Cutting Edge of Employment Branding

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employee performance, Employment Branding, high-performing, internal branding, job search, recruiting and retention strategy, staffing agency dfw, TPS, trend personnel dallas

by Stephen Bruce & John Sullivan  | BLR

During a recent webinar, BLR® asked Dr. John Sullivan, professor, author, corporate speaker, and advisor, a number of questions about employment branding. Today we present a portion of that interview.

Q: Would you help us understand the importance and impact of employment branding in today’s business environment?

A: Employment branding is the only long-term recruiting and retention strategy, so you [should] use it to build what employees … and others say about you. Seventy-five percent of people in the U.S. would not take a job with a company with a bad employment brand even if they were unemployed, and 87 percent would consider leaving their current job if they were offered a job at a company with a strong brand.

Well-branded firms can improve applicant quality by 54 percent, quality of hire by 9 percent and, in some cases, the firms with a strong employment brand [see] their stock prices increase as much as 10 times more than the standard employer. You get higher offer acceptance rates, so when people know positive things about your company, they just say “Yes” to your offers more.

If you have a negative internal brand, it turns out your employees talk to your customers, and they don’t say nice things. Therefore, having a negative internal brand costs you money. In a highly competitive marketplace with so many firms competing for the same talent, your image is everything.

Without an image, or without managing that image, you’re certainly not going to have great results. Especially in recruiting, we target fully employed people—people that are doing really well—innovators. Well, those people are not attracted to job postings. The only way to get them is to write a branding message, or [to] have your company written up., Amazon [learned] how important a brand is. Well, they just went through a lot of turmoil because some employees said some negative things—[that’s] a current example of the impact on sales, on recruiting, [and] on retention.

Q: Maybe you could share some thoughts on what actions can help companies be successful with their internal branding?

A: Well, the first thing you have to realize is that we’re in a very connected world. So when you have an employee who is unhappy, not only will they know, but every other employee will know—whether through mobile phone or text. They’ll also post it externally. So if you want to improve retention and certainly as I mentioned earlier, sales, if your customers are unhappy, and someone says, “Oh, tell me about that,” [your employees are] going to say negative things, and it’s going to hurt your sales.

The first thing you want to do is measure your…internal brand strength. What [things] do your employees say about you, both positive and negative? You want that ratio, obviously, to have more positives than negatives. Anonymous employee websites or surveys allow employees to have complaints [and] to say things without their name[s] coming up. That helps them vent, which means that they won’t say bad things to others and customers if they get a chance to vent—especially if someone answers their question or gives them information.

Spreading stories is one of the best ways to get referrals, but it also impacts retention. So, if you have what we call a “story inventory” of all the great things and practices your firm does and employees see it when they are in the process of making a referral, they build their pride, they build their knowledge, they build their understanding and say, “Hey, our firm is pretty good.”

Getting on lists of best places to work—LinkedIn, Fortune, those kinds of things—also builds image because everyone asks them “What’s it like to work there?” And, you know, people at Apple, for example, get hundreds of people asking, “What’s it like to work there?” Where, at a less-desirable firm, you wouldn’t get that.

The last thing you need to realize is that only 20 percent of the information that people get about a firm comes from the firm. The other 80 percent comes from some other place, and that other place is not owned or controlled by you. You can have an employee newsletter where you can say all these things that are great, but it’s getting 80 percent of its information from some other place, which might cite something [contrary].

Q: To what extent do you recommend gearing programs toward high-performing employees, or do you recommend it at all?

A: I definitely do—it’s critical. When you look at all employees, you know, Homer Simpson just doesn’t produce as much as a top performer. Apple found … that top performers produce between 10 and 25 times, not percent, but times more [than average employees]. So obviously, you want to focus your internal and external brand message on your top-performing employees.

It turns out that most of the people you want to attract are currently treated well [and] are currently employed. So an employer brand can bring people who work at another firm and get them to consider your firm. But top performers have different requirements, so they might want to create work, or they might want to innovate where Homer might want donuts or something. If you want to attract top performers it turns out there’s data that show they will bring 3 to 5 other people with them [to your firm]. When you count the ROI of branding [not only do] you get a top performer [and] an innovator but also 3 to 5 people.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/151-the-cutting-edge-of-employment-branding

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Why Conduct Background Checks on Potential Employees?

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applicant, applicants needed, apply now dallas, Background Checks, dfw jobs, hiring process, Potential Employees, recruiting tips, rockwall jobs, trend personnel dallas, trend personnel services

by Bridget Miller | BLR

Does your organization conduct background checks as part of the hiring process? Many organizations do, but the type of background check—and the extent of it—varies considerably. Let’s take a look at some of the most pertinent reasons so many businesses opt to perform some type of background check on any potential new employee.

Some of the Reasons for Conducting a Background Check

Probably the biggest reason employers choose to perform background checks on potential employees is safety and security. Employers have an obligation under OSHA to provide a safe workplace—one that is free of known hazards. It can be easily argued that hiring an individual with violent tendencies—tendencies that could  have been discovered with due diligence—would represent a disregard for that obligation. As such, many employers opt to perform at least a criminal background check on potential employees before finalizing any offer of employment.

Similarly, if an individual causes harm to anyone—such as a customer or vendor—the employer may be liable if there was an opportunity to learn about this tendency, such as the existence of a public criminal record.

Security is another concern, especially for jobs in which an individual is responsible for cash or for making decisions that affect the company’s profitability or reputation. For any individual in these roles, employers often consider doing a background check that confirms the individual does not have a history of fraud, negligence, or theft, for example.

Background checks can also be done on a more limited scale. Technically, even calling references is a form of background screening. In these situations, an employer is trying to gauge what the potential employee is like to work with, to better ensure it will be a good fit. These can also be done as a means to try to uncover any fabrications or exaggerations on the application, résumé, or during the interview.

Conducting Background Checks: Some Caveats

Despite these very good reasons to conduct an employee background check, there are limits to what an employer can discover and use. For example:

• Employers should be careful not to make decisions based solely on arrest records. An arrest is not the same as a conviction, and some protected groups may be disproportionately affected by a policy that disallows a perspective employee due to any arrest—thus making such a policy discriminatory.
• Credit checks and other background checks require employee consent. Without consent, such checks can be illegal, depending on what type of check is conducted. Consult legal counsel and get advance permission before conducting background screenings. Additionally, if you use an employee’s credit rating as part of the background screening process, first be sure there is a legitimate business purpose for doing so. Otherwise, this alone can be a form of discrimination if potential employees are excluded based on credit. This is because lower credit scores disproportionately affect some protected groups, and eliminating on this basis alone would create a disparate impact on these groups. Even with a legitimate business purpose for checking a credit score, the employer must also be sure to follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) rules.
• Background checks can inadvertently turn up information that discloses an employee’s inclusion in a protected class. Even if this information is not used in the hiring process, it is risky for an employer to have such information at this stage because it raises the possibility of a discrimination claim. For this reason, many employers use third-party services to conduct background checks—and those service providers only turn over information that is relevant to the hiring process, insulating the employer from knowledge about protected class inclusion and other information that should not be used in hiring decisions.
• There are many federal, state, and local laws that limit the type of information that an employer can seek out—be sure to consult local laws and understand the limitations.
• Be sure any background screening is relevant to the job. For example, there is probably no need to get a driving record for someone who will not be driving for the company in any capacity.
• Be consistent in conducting background checks. Do not conduct background checks only for certain applicants but not others who are up for the same job. It’s OK to only conduct background screening after you’ve made a short list, but it’s not OK to only conduct background checks on individuals of specific groups, such as minorities or immigrants. Be consistent in the hiring process for each job opening.
• When something is uncovered during a background screening, consider giving the applicant the opportunity to share more information about the situation. While you still need to be consistent in how the situation is handled, it’s always possible that there’s a mistake that can be rectified or there are extenuating circumstances that change the view of the situation. Of course, if you’re going to give the opportunity for explanations, be consistent and offer this opportunity every time the situation arises.

Does your company conduct employee background checks? What advice would you provide based on your experience?

*This article does not constitute legal advice. Always consult legal counsel with specific questions.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/150-why-conduct-background-checks-on-potential-employees

Keeping Those Candidates on the Line

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Always Follow Up, applying for a job, Candidates, dallas temp jobs, interview process, job duties, job search dfw, rockwall jobs, trend personnel services

by Stephen Bruce | BLR

This crucial moment can play out in so many different ways, and most of that is up to you. Consider these Do’s and Don’ts.

DO:

• Clearly introduce who you are, and be sure to include the name of your company.
• State your purpose for calling.
• By all means, flatter your candidates. Let them know you have specially picked them from a large pool of candidates. After all of your sourcing and preparation, this is very true!
• Take your time and add a few short pauses here and there. Candidates should feel in control of the conversation and have enough time to think. If they didn’t expect a call from you, they might be on-guard or suspicious. A little space in a conversation can put them at ease.

DON’T:

• Do not offer them an interview for the same day, or even the next day, even if you really want that position filled quickly. Give your candidate time to do some research. Besides, rushing the process makes you seem desperate.
• Never forget to explain in detail how the interview process works. Let them know what time and where they will be meeting, and with whom they will be meeting. Make sure to give them time to write it down, and if there are any other steps involved, let them know. Give them clear, easy steps to follow. This helps eliminate uncertainty.
• Never misrepresent your company or the position. If candidates ask about the company, use clear terms to describe it. Also, make sure to tell them the job duties in accurate, straightforward terms. The candidate should arrive at the interview ready to talk about the actual job you want them to fill. If their interview doesn’t match the initial phone call, you are likely to lose the candidate.
• Do not answer any questions about pay during the initial phone call. Sometimes a candidate will want to talk pay up front. Unless you work for a company where positions come with fixed pay, it’s best if you don’t mention any numbers at this time. At this point, your guess might not align with what they could see down the road in an offer. Experts agree that failure to be honest about pay can cost many companies good candidates.

Always Follow Up

So, you’ve made the call and hopefully you have an interview scheduled. The candidate knows what he or she is supposed to do, and when. So why would you follow up? This business practice is polite and it helps put the candidate at ease. Just shoot the person a quick e-mail shortly after you talk summarizing what you talked about. Send another e-mail the day before or early the day of the interview confirming the time and location. Make sure the candidate knows that he or she can contact you with any questions. In fact, some form of communication should take place at each step of the entire process. Employees expect this, and when it doesn’t happen, they feel adrift.

What if you decide not to go with that candidate? What if someone else gets hired before the interview? If this ends up being the case, you should still send a note gently letting the person know what has transpired. It may be hard to give someone bad news, but it is worse not to contact them at all. Studies have shown that people who are cold-shouldered by companies at any point during the interview process will often bad-mouth the company to their friends and family, as well as on social media. You may not see it directly, but a bad reputation gets around, and it may cost you in ways you didn’t anticipate.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/149-keeping-those-candidates-on-the-line

First Contact with the Candidate: Tips for Success

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apply now dallas, attract candidate, dallas jobs, dallas temporary staffing, potential candidate, recruiting company, searching for jobs, trend personnel dallas, trend personnel services

by Stephen Bruce | BLR

Your technique may vary, but you should have a basic process to follow when getting ready to call your candidate. First, prepare what you need to make the call. Next, rehearse what you have prepared so your words sound natural when you say them. Now you are ready to make the call. Regardless of what happens when you call, don’t forget the crucial step that many ignore—following up.

A Matter of Perspective

When you pore over résumé after résumé , especially if you work for a recruiting company, the candidates can seem like just a bunch of files or a set of numbers. But remember, on the other end are living, breathing people who have no idea you exist. Furthermore, if they are searching for jobs, it’s possible that more than a few less-reputable companies have tried to take advantage of them already. They could be on guard. They could be suspicious. Or they could be a delight. The point is, you won’t know until you call—and putting the wrong foot forward could cost you a perfectly good employee. Perspective counts, and taking a moment to remember that really helps.

Prepare and Prevail!

Again and again, experts underline the absolute need for preparation before you make a call. Calling without preparation makes you sound unsure and might cause a potential candidate to leave the recruitment process before you have a chance to assess his or her potential or attract him or her to your organization.

Here are some good ways to make sure you’ll be ready for whatever happens when you call your candidate. A little bit of homework can make all the difference.

1. Know what you are going to ask. Even spending a short time jotting down some general questions you want to ask is better than no preparation at all. If you have the time, a complete list of questions works best.
2. Keep it concise. Summarize who you are and what you want with a few sentences and have it on hand. This way, if someone other than the candidate picks up, or, more likely, the call goes to voicemail, you’ll have a quick, to-the-point response ready to go.
3. What do you already know? Construct a fairly detailed list of everything you already know about the candidate. This serves two purposes: first, you can tailor your conversation around those points; second, simply confirming these points with the candidate is a decent good way to organize an interview.

Rehearse First

You’ve done your preparation. So you’re ready to pick up the phone right away, right? Well, if you want to sound natural (and unlike a telemarketer), you might want to take a few moments to read what you wrote down. A few quick things to consider at this point.

• Make absolutely certain you can pronounce the candidate’s name. It’s amazing how well a call can go when the candidate’s name smoothly rolls off your tongue. It’s equally amazing how defensive candidates can become if you botch their name.

• Be ready to go off-topic. While you may have an agenda for the conversation, sometimes you can learn a lot about a candidate based on how they direct the conversation. Don’t become annoyed if they wander; instead, take notes. However, try to stick to business and the job at hand, as casual conversation can lead to finding out things you don’t want to know, for example, race, religion, or disability.

http://trendpersonnel.com/en/news/item/148-first-contact-with-the-candidate-tips-for-success