Searching Talent At The Time of Crisis

Staffing solutions have become critical in recent times. The economic rundowns, new criteria for employment, changing technologies, finding right talent and such like have affected the recruitment process and talent pool of companies to a great extent. While finding the right set of candidates has become challenging, there are certain measures which can be useful towards hiring at the time of crisis.

• Often it has been observed that organizations hire or rather look for talent only when they have an opening. This means the company is already in crisis when it starts looking for recruits. This approach affects the company objectives in the long run. So, it is better to start off early. Regular analysis needs to be performed regarding the future talent needs of the company. The talent pool should be evaluated at regular intervals and forecasting regarding future talent needs is crucial.
• It is essential to specify the demands of the job role along with the skill set requirement. The hiring manager should identify the team in which the recruit will work and consider the company culture impact on the job role in order to find the best match.
• Talent pool development is one of the fundamental measures to handle recruitment crisis. The sourcing of the talent pool should be channelized among employees, social media platforms, network channels and such like for a compressive database of candidates. Even the candidate peers can be asked for nominations.
• For a successful recruitment process, an organization requires a set of well trained and high caliber interviewers who can successfully analyze candidate’s knowledge base along with professional behavioral pattern, problem solving abilities and soft skills. Reference checks can be effective towards past experience verification and it is better to involve the top stakeholders in the assessment process.
• Recruitment process goes both ways towards impression creation from the employers as well as candidate end. So it is better to keep the door open for questions in order to perk up the candidate interest. It is also essential to involve technicians and hiring managers along with HR professional to close the deal. In case of higher positions, C level employees should be involved in the process.
• Integration of the fresh recruit within the system should be performed with systematic on boarding of the candidate and proper support towards working systems to be provided by the team members and managers.

While these measures can assist towards effective recruitment even before the crisis rises, there are certain things which should be off limits.

• Going for the recruitment at the nick of time. When a company is desperate to hire, that’s when the worst decisions are taken. No one wants to end up with a bad recruit. So, refraining from hurried recruitment is a best approach,
• Generic competency models should be avoided at the time of recruitment.
• Ad hoc approach towards talent search results in a disorganized process.

Lastly, delaying selection for too much perfect match or settling for a candidate at first instance, both may result in crisis in after years.

Millennial - The Driving Force Towards Altering Workforce Demographics

The millennial generation is the new face of workforce demographics in current corporate structure. The people belonging to this generation have a different outlook towards employment than generation x or the baby boomers. While baby boomers were more in to organizational structure and used to put in long hours of work, millennial generation are skilled and technologically inclined. They are confident in performance and have the ability to multi task with efficiency. They prefer working in teams and seek challenging tasks in their employment. They have a tendency to achieve something much higher in career path yet give importance to work life balance. They are set to take over the reins from baby boomers who will be retiring in the coming years. The four most important characteristics that this generation looks forward in organizational structure are as follows.

• Digitization is one of the primary factors which drive the interest towards an employment opportunity for millennial. The technological innovations for carrying out several organizational processes are very common now days. This helps in effective and error free management of such processes which attracts this generation. Also it influences the working style by removing the restriction to work at office desk always.
• Transparent flow of communication and information from time to time along with open forums for discussion and feedback is greatly sought after by millennial. They think that organizations with clear and constant flow of information tend to make smarter strategic decisions and achieve growth in coming years.
• Flexibility is a key element of employment for this generation. As stated earlier, work life balance is important for them. Flexibility includes variable work timings and ability to work at different locations are to name a few. It also depicts the working environment demographics of the company. The fluid organizations better server customers and are advanced in strategic planning and execution.
• Time efficiency matters the most for millennial. Since they have access to huge information and resources within a quick span of time, they need similar processes within the organization. The streamlined processes for back end jobs with technology touch are sought after by them.

So, it is essential for the companies and recruitment agencies to follow certain processes to manage millennial.

• It is essential to have a structure in place for team and leadership management. Daily tasks require end of day updates. Similarly weekly and monthly sessions regarding assignment development and knowledge transfer sessions are important to encourage millennial.
• Providing required leadership and guidance at regular intervals during the course of employment is crucial to keep this generation stay motivated towards work.
• Since, this generation believes in team work, so it is better to encourage interaction of this generation within teams to channelize the team work spirit for better productivity.

There should be a well structured system for sharing thoughts and feedback regarding the work and its related affairs. Since millennial generation seek recognition for their work, appreciations and reward systems are essential in this regard.

The Aging Workforce and Role Reversal Trend Influencing Workforce Management

Diversity in workforce is a key trend in recent times. This diversity is being implemented not only in terms of race, ethnicity and gender, but it also includes people from different age groups. The companies are making an effort to hire experienced professionals as well as young and fresh talents. Businesses are also approaching placement consultants for the purpose. While this is one aspect of recruiting people in higher age bracket, there has been a rising trend of aging workforce for other perspectives as well. The uncertainty related to the retirement income, recession and financial hit in retirement investments are also influencing the higher age group to be employed for longer duration. The percentage of working people above the age group of 65 years has risen by 40% in the past decade. This shows that the older age group is trying remain employed for a longer period of time. This has influenced the recruitment scenario as a whole. There are many job roles wherein people from younger as well as older age group are applying which posses to be a difficult scenario for the placement consultants.

The challenges faced under such conditions are as follows:

• The first and foremost situation rises with the older people being managed by younger managers. This gives rise to a significant role reversal in comparison to the traditional structure which might result in conflicts.
• In terms of recruitment, in majority cases, the younger fresh talents are preferred more than the older people. Despite the fact that these people are many times more experienced and appropriately fit the profile, they are not considered.
• When younger managers have some older people under their management, they face issues regarding communication and feedback due to lack of knowledge.

With these evident challenges, there are certain measures that can be taken to address the issue.

• First of all, it is very important to change the perspective of hiring. A candidate should be evaluated and selected based on knowledge and other required parameters rather than age.
• The workforce management should not be restricted to the younger or the older age group. The management should consist of people from both the categories in order to discuss and take strategic decisions for the betterment of the business.
• There should be a clear communication channel between the employees and management. The scope of feedback and suggestion should be maintained in order to facilitate the flow of ideas and creativity. In this manner, every employee gets the chance to speak their mind despite the age group they belong to.
• The performance standards for specific roles and responsibilities should be decided before commencing the recruitment process.
• Lastly, the room for rewards and recognition should be kept open in order to boost the employee engagement, morale and brand loyalty.

The placement consultants can be very beneficial in taking up such measures for companies in order to manage the aging workforce scenario and its challenges.

Competitive Analysis Vs Competitive Intelligence – The Distinguishing Factors

Competitive Analysis refers to the process of identifying the competitors within a segment and analyzing their strengths and weaknesses in reference to the company’s product or service line. It forms a fundamental factor towards development of the brand’s marketing agenda. It will aid the identification of unique characteristics of the company offerings and finding the weak spots which can be strengthened using proper measures.

Competitive intelligence refers to the activity of gathering and analyzing information related to customers within a market, products and services as well as competitors which is directed towards aiding management to perform strategic planning and decision making.

In many cases both these elements have been considered similar. But competitive intelligence covers more area than competitive analysis. While the former is associated with research across various components of a business like customers, products, behavioral pattern and such like, competitive analysis is restricted to analyzing major players within the same segment. Hence it is important to discuss the process of performing both which is beneficial for every business.

Competitive analysis initiates with professional market research which includes focus groups and questionnaires. This approach gives valuable information regarding their product profile and marketing techniques. Information can be gathered through advertisements, brochures, annual reports and such like. The next important step is analyzing the gathered information. It is directed towards gaining insight through product evaluation, understanding the market share of the competitors, their business objectives and goals and identifying their strengths and weaknesses. The last and most significant step is determining the own business position in comparison to the competitors. This should be directed towards understanding the product and services line and its attractive features along with the negative pointers.

Competitive Intelligence is a different prospect from the former process. It looks in to the information of the competitors, customers, market trends and such like in a logical manner to predict the future initiatives. It has a different style of approach and analysis. It starts with a research regarding the objectives of conducting the process. After determining the objectives it is essential to look in to the existing data collection strategies related to competitive intelligence. After that the new strategies are developed related to the process. Then the access and integration systems are set up to gain benefit from the practice in future as well. The analysis and the reporting processes are initiated and dissemination is planned. The entire information collected and analyzed is presented systematically.

Therefore, it is quite evident that competitive analysis is similar to a part of competitive intelligence. The latter covers more strategic areas. With this it is also essential to note that both these processes require a high level of expertise and management for conducting. Currently the HR consultancy has broadened its service basket and ventured in to such specialties. Partnering with such firms not only make these processes effective but also streamlines the outcome. The level of assistance in conducting both the processes can also be regulated as per the contract.

Hiring Millennial – The Benefits and Challenges

The Millennial generation, sometimes referred to as the Generation Y, are those who have reached their adulthood during 2000. They come after the “post peak boomers” or generation X. There has been a lot of discussion regarding the hiring of young talent coming from millennial segment. While some are inclined towards bringing in fresh outlook in to the workforce there are some who feel skeptical about this approach. Hence, we bring forth, the benefits and challenges associated with hiring and retaining millennial in the workforce.

The benefits are as follows.

• The majority of millennial generation are tech savvy in nature. They are the ones who are regarded as the early adopters of computer technology. In most cases it has been observed that, they remain up to date with the advanced technologies which are helpful towards content management and exposure on social media.
• They are regarded as the most cost effective generation in terms of recruitment. Majority of the employers have reported that millennial seek work life balance and flexibility in work environment the most. Compensation is regarded secondary in many cases.
• This generation has the most sense towards community and peer to peer relation build up. Hence they are the best team players. This is beneficial towards grouped mentality and collaboration among team members.
• They are self expressive in nature. This helps in bringing out the creative ideas and positive suggestion which becomes valuable for the business.
• They are aware of the high level competition in the corporate world. This drives them to perform to their highest abilities to ensure that they retain their position in the workforce. Their optimum productivity is useful for business processes.

While there are lot advantages of hiring millennial, staffing solutions may come in handy towards recruiting them. It is also essential to look in to the challenges of hiring and retaining them.

• Since compensation is not the primary deciding factor the millennial it acts as a down side as well. Their demands from the work environment like work life balance and flexibility becomes difficult to provide at certain instances.
• While working with the higher age groups, they tend to develop conflicts in terms of implementing new ideas and policies. Their advanced technology related inputs tend to become difficult for intake by baby boomers and generation x employees.
• They seek for rewards and recognition for their work. It becomes necessary to appreciate their efforts at regular intervals. If not, it grows in a sense of discomfort and aloofness.

Hence there are lot benefits as well as challenges associated with hiring millennial. The staffing solutions provided by recruitment firms look in to these aspects and short list the candidates accordingly. They can carry out the pre screening processes as per requirement and select candidates who can get along with the work environment of the company. Therefore it is essential to seek advice of such firms in this regard.

Women Participation in Technical Profiles - The Figures Does Not Look Promising

According to published sources, the percentage of technical positions held by women in many multinational firms does not look impressive. In case of Microsoft, women constitute around 30% of the entire workforce of the company. But women holding the technical positions are merely 17% and in leadership roles the percentage rises to 23%. In case of Twitter, women in technical roles constitute a mere 10% and in leadership positions it is 21%. In Google, women holding technical positions are 17% with 21% in managerial roles. The figures remain more or less similar for Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Intel and many others. These figures directly point towards the fact that women are least involved in the product development and business strategy formulation processes. Also, the 30% of women employment has a back story as well. Previously, the management and technical aspects were totally handled by men. After the rising concern for the need of workforce diversity, though women were lead in to such positions, the percentage has been stuck at low levels. Specifically it is commonly seen that there is on an average only one women in such teams and people are not paying attention to the issue.

There are certain major adjustments required in terms of perspectives and attitude in this regard. Firstly, women who have MBA degrees do not go for highly technical positions. There is a mindset that the technical positions will be filled in by geeks who are believed to be working round the clock. This creates a lot of pressure on women which puts down the interest and they do not prefer this extra push. Secondly, the most talked about reasoning is the pay gap. In most cases it has been seen that female employees are paid way less than their male peers. The reasoning behind this discrimination cannot be strategically explained till date.

With all these hindrances it is high time that the issue be dealt with proper initiation.

• First and foremost, an in depth analysis is required in terms of women employee density within the workforce. Then a research concerning women in technical roles has to be done to look in to the current stand point. If the situation is on the lower end then, a job consultancy may be helpful in recruiting women candidates.
• It has to be kept in mind that just filling out positions with women candidates would not be helpful. Hence the job consultancy can be useful in short listing worthy candidates with appropriate skill set and professional experience.
• In certain cases an overhaul in the company policies may be required in order to make the work environment favourable for the women employees. This also increases the retention rate.
• Equal opportunity environment should be practiced within the organization wherein every employee irrespective of the gender, gets a chance to showcase his or her skills, creativity and share suggestions from time to time.

Creating a gender balanced work environment does not essentially refer to hiring women employees randomly. It requires high level of analysis and planning for the business benefit in the long run.

Executive Training - A Tool of Learning

Executive training also referred to as executive coaching aims at improvement of skill set or managing changes in business growth. It is considered as one of the most critical aspects of a company. Many companies are now days implementing executive coaching in their business process in order to upgrade the knowledge base of the workforce. It helps in understanding the upbeat market trends and crisis management at a significant level. There are certain prime benefits of executive coaching which are as follows.

• Increasing the knowledge base of the workforce in turn increases the productivity of the employees. This results in business and revenue growth in long term.
• It opens up the insight regarding the areas of improvement in terms of knowledge. It also helps in bringing out the skill set of certain employees to a great extent. 
•  Imparting knowledge through executive coaching helps in faster advancement of business process which gives better outcome in the long term. 
• The executive training can be used for the development of the management skill. It helps in developing decision making abilities and crisis management. The executives can then be considered for the managerial roles and strategic planning.
• It helps in professional growth which is facilitated with the help of feedback system. 
• The company can be benefited with increased brand loyalty and higher retention rate. Employees feel confident about their company and this builds up a dependable professional relationship.
• A well informed and knowledgeable workforce helps in attracting new clientele for the business.
• The executive training programs induces a positive attitude towards daily tasks and work environment.

With all these benefits there are certain factors which have to be kept in mind while implementing executive training within an organization.

• A thorough research has to be done at first in order to understand the current standing of the workforce in terms of skill set and at the same time latest market innovations. Based on these two factors the training program should be designed and developed.
• A consistent standard should be maintained in terms of coaching material, trainer and the entire system so that the process is beneficial both at the employee and the employer end.
• An assessment system should be in place in order to analyze the level of understanding and implementation of the executives. It also helps in recognizing any short falls of the program. 
• The feedback system should be in place in order to understand the executive opinion about the program and any other requirement for additions.
• The program should be intended towards individual knowledge gain rather than the overall impact. This helps in building of skill set at a micro level.
• The final evaluation of the training program should be done to understand the end to end impact on the workforce. 
• Since the executive training program design and implementation requires analysis and planning to a certain level, so an executive search firm can be appointed for the purpose.