recruiting and retaining in a nutshell

cornerstoneondemand.com

13 Tips for Small Business to Recruit and Retain Great Talent

bamboohr.com

We are a small business and don’t have a single clerical staff member in our organization. We can’t possibly respond to

every applicant. We are tempted to mention in our recruiting that we will respond only to applicants in which we have

interest. How bad is that approach?

You know, I don’t think it’s bad at all. Depending on the nature of your business, it’s just impossible to respond to every single candidate. There are automated ways to respond to them and let them know in a nice way so that they can understand. Regarding the black hole of communication, there are good ways to say that they may or may not hear back from you. So great questio. Again, it just depends. A lot of times it just depends. But I don’t think that’s a bad approach. I’m swimming in 1,500 applicants a week and there’s no way I can do it, I’m going to automate that and figure out the best way to filter through. But you may also want to take a look at the job listing and see if that can filter for you.



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Is there any study you know of which shows if candidates prefer face to face interviewing or a remote method like—

telephone, video calling, etc. And, if this differs from geography to geography?

In our backyard, we’ve got some great web technologies where they use the webcam to do a lot of different things. For us, personally, I could only speak to that from a personal standpoint where we’ve used both. We’ve used Skype, we’ve used obviously the phone and face to face. I do think it matters depending on the nature of the role, what you’re looking for, how hard applicants are to find.

I prefer face-to-face. There’s a lot that happens in that interaction. People say that so much of communication happens nonverbally so personally I prefer the face-to-face, hands down. But that’s just a personal preference.



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I think there are differences from geography to geography. I certainly think that video calling or face to face or anything that helps you understand the non-verbal cues are the best methods to use regardless of what candidates prefer, to be honest. It’s important to do what candidates prefer but I think that you—actually as the one hiring—have to be able to get the complete picture on someone so. I always find that you don’t get as much from telephone as you get from other methods.



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Where are top sites to use for recruiting engineers/developers? I’ve had little luck with local tech sites,

dice.com, etc.

Top sites for recruiting engineers and developers vary from country to country. There’s nothing easy about recruiting engineers and developers is there? Not at all. We’ve had success with Authentic Jobs and we’ve had success with LinkedIn. You know I love LinkedIn. It’s funny, human nature is somewhat voyeuristic. That’s why we love our Facebook profiles, we love our LinkedIn profiles and our social media. We like to see our name out there. And so when you go and look at someone on LinkedIn, they can actually see who it was that looked at them. So we’ll actually go and browse candidates that we like so that they can see that we came to them. That’s how they know about us sometimes. We have our management team’s LinkedIn profiles say we’re hiring. Because they’re going to wonder, “Who’s looking at me?” Then they’ll go back and see you and hopefully that raises some interest so they’ll come back to us.

http://www.authenticjobs.com/

http://www.linkedIn.com



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What’s the most revealing interview question you’ve ever asked?

Tell me about yourself. When I say “Tell me about yourself,” they will come in and they will just go over their resume. I say, “Wait, I have your resume. I’ve read through your resume and I’ve already researched you and stalked you everywhere else you’ve been online. I know that much about you, but I want to see if they can communicate who they are. I want to see how their values map to BambooHR, characteristics we might share.

We also love to ask what an applicant’s first job was. You know, was your first job when you were 27 and got kicked out of the house? Was your first job when you were 14 trying to make a couple extra bucks to buy a new pair of Levis or a bike? So, those are two great ones that we like here.



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I love those kind of revealing questions. I don’t like situations where you make the candidate feel uncomfortable. There’s just something in me that doesn’t like that, but I do like to ask candidates quite directly if they’re smart. It’s quite interesting to watch people’s reactions to that question because it really tells you a lot about their own self view. I don’t know if candidates always answer it accurately, but you certainly learn a lot from their answers about how confident they feel.



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What is the status of adding an automatic email response to candidates who apply to our positions listed on BambooHR?

How can we respond to multiple people at once sending them ‘thanks but no thanks’ emails?

This next question is specifically about a BambooHR feature related to our applicant tracking system (ATS). One of the great things about CornerstoneOnDemand and BambooHR, we are cloud. We are software as a service (SaaS) and we’re always getting better. We release features fast. So this was about a specific feature related to the ATS and the ability to email responses to candidates. That will be coming soon. The second part (sending the ‘thanks but no thanks’ emails) is not as soon but it’s coming as well. One thing to note is that BambooHR is not a large, huge recruiting platform. So if you have, you know, 10,000 employees we’re not a fit. We’re built for the smaller businesses. So small- to medium-sized (SMB) companies, where you’ve got people wearing a lot of hats and need a really clean user interface,but it’s not for recruiters. And going back to the technology, it’s finding what is the right fit for you. But BambooHR is always changing and always getting better.



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What about [culture] fit or chemistry with the company and team?

We like to start with our performance-management system. I know that sounds back to front, but we like to look at all of the data that sits in our performance system to understand what our great employees look like and then we can say what we’re looking for in candidates. Then we try to find someone who have similar characteristics to people who we already know are successful in the organization. And I think we all get pretty at interviewing and knowing when someone will enhance the team, then they’ll bring some diversity and some vibrancy and other things you need to the team. You can also tell when someone won’t. As your business develops, you tend to develop a very clear picture of your culture and need to hire for that company culture. And make sure you’re repairing your company culture.



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Have you had success automating your sourcing AND screening process?

Yes, to the extent we’ve used the BambooHR ATS and CornerstoneOnDemand technology. We definitely recommend testing the use of technology to make your process more efficient. Sorry we couldn’t be more helpful!



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Can you give an example of each of the three A’s?

Accommodate: The first thing you should do to accommodate new hires is to make them comfortable when they arrive. Set them up with a readied workspace—including computer and phone. You can create a welcome package to let them know you’re excited they’re there.

Assimilate: The next A is assimilate, which means you need to bring them onto the team and everyone should accept them. A couple things you can do to is make sure your team knows the new hire is there by doing a roundup and welcome them there. Then be sure to assign them “care-takers” or mentors that can help new hires feel they have a safe place to ask questions. Maybe even take your new hires to lunch to get things started off on the right foot.

Accelerate: The next important step is getting your new hires up to speed and productive quickly. Some people may think that means stuff new hires with as much information as they can as quickly as possible, but will only overwhelm your new hires. It’s actually more helpful and productive if you can give new hires what they need in a manageable, steady stream.



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When you say share your experience, including good and bad, What have you found is the best way to convey

the message(s)?

So we’re huge proponents of a book around here called “The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande. Gawande recommends creating checklists to improve performance and decrease errors—in hospitals, for pilots, for everything. But the issue is being able to share when a mistake is made and there’s a checklist to help you avoid those mistakes. So when you ask the wrong question, when you have the wrong experience with a candidate in an interview process, or an onboarding process, share it so you can get better and so it’s not repeated. It drives me personally a little crazy when we continue to do the wrong things over and over again simply because we’re not communicating what those things are. So share the good and the bad internally. Share what works.



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Do you think people who are leaving will tell the real truth when they’re leaving? How can you get them to really be

honest and not just be nice to leave on good terms?

That’s really about creating a good company culture to start with. It always amazes me that sometimes you only find out the real details about how someone feels about your organization when they are emboldened enough to talk to you when they leave. You hope that’s not the case but of course we are all polite creatures, aren’t we? I think that you’ve got to create an interview process that allows people to give really open feedback. One of the best ways of doing that is don’t have a direct manager run that. Have someone from HR or an indirect manager or someone kind of run that exit process so that there’s none of that baggage which existed up to that point.

We’re complex individuals, and we have different personalities. Sometimes you just can’t win. You can be the nicest person in the world, and they’re just not going to tell the truth to you. You just do the best you can.



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How long is a good average length of time to stay at a company?

This question just makes me smile because it depends on the role. When I get resumes and I’m talking to a candidate, my questions aren’t necessarily as much around possibly the job hopping as just making sure there are logical reasons why they hopped. Why did you make that jump? Explain it to me. Let me understand why you moved here. Let’s use an online marketing example. In demand gen, sales force administrators and marketing designers are moving every year—or every few years—because they become so much more valuable as time goes by so it makes sense that they’re moving quickly. It just depends on the role I think. There’s obviously red flags you want to watch for.

You can’t be scared of staff turnover. When someone comes to your business,they add inevitably bring new things which are great. Sometimes the idea of having people for a really long tenure is good, but sometimes it’s actually nice to have a little bit of change in the organization.



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Most of the times HR has a lot of dependency on the Business Units for making a decision. What do you think is a good time interval to respond to candidates during the

interview process?

I think you want to respond as quickly as possible. If it’s a great candidate you’re going to lose unless you get back fast, then you’ve got to get to it. The single biggest common denominator of great candidates is they have plenty of options.



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What about succession management? When do you bring up career path with candidates?

Depends. =) REally it’s a matter of the role. And whether growth actually exists. Hopefully it does. At BambooHR, we try to have transparency in all aspects of the business. So opportunities are hopefully quite clear and discussed frequently. If you’re trying avoid it, we think you should consider the reasons why.



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Do you prefer phone, email or in-person interview?

I think you can use each type in a different way. For example, we usually screen most applications with a phone interview. We feel that is a good first screen to determine the applicant’s personality as well as how easy it is to talk with them. Because we hire for a lot of customer support, implementation and sales positions, it’s also important to know how they conduct themselves on the telephone and how their voice sounds.

Of course, I feel it’s important to have an in-person interview because you can learn a lot about people from their body language and how they handle themselves in a face-to-face situation.



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What role (and how much) can the HR function play in mitigating flight risk of talent?

One thing HR can do is keep constant communication with employees. Are you having quarterly check-ins with your employees to make sure they’re feeling engaged and that they’re still enjoying their job and work environment? Are they still happy in the career they chose or do they feel ready for a promotion? What are their career aspirations? Have they ever thought about a different area and are thinking it’s time to try something new out? In any of these scenarios, there are things HR can be doing to try to keep great talent. Keeping honest and open communication can help you keep a great employee. If you can open up a pathway for career progression, then do what you can. If you have a job in another area they’re considering, then try to make it happen. Or at least let them know you’re doing what you can. Be sure they know that HR recognizes their contribution and when possible, reward. Sometimes a little effort can go a long way.



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Do you think it’s more important to hire for cultural/core values fit or technical fit?

Culture fit. Hands down. The pain that comes from not hiring the right value fit is just not worth it. Definitely cultural and core values.



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How many times do you meet a candidate in the interview process before you’re ready to hire?

It depends on several factors. How much information was I able to get in the initial interview? Was every decision maker able to meet the applicant? Do you still need more answers? I think it’s okay to adjust based on position and remember, supply and demand sometimes dictates your time frame. With certain openings, you don’t have the luxury of bringing them in for four interviews.



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How can you retain employees in a job that has historically had high turnover (such as entry level

jobs like customer service)?

The same way you retain any employee—by making where they work a great place, offering chances to move up by going above and beyond, and recognition and rewarding. People who feel appreciated for what they’re doing are more engaged and engaged people don’t leave their jobs as often. Also, be sure they know their role is significant in the company’s overall goal and tell them often the company couldn’t do it without them and their contribution. And don’t forget to give little extras to those who go above and beyond—whether it’s taking an employee out for a lunch, a pay increase or even a quick email saying “thanks.”



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How do you make a lateral move enticing to an employee.

Be open and honest. If it’s the right fit for them, make it good for them. Don’t try to take advantage. Employees aren’t naive. They know, so do it right. Do it right. Let the employee know you thought the employee stood out to you from among the many others as someone who could step up and do the job well. Be sure to recognize the employee for the great things they did in the former space, but that you think he’ll grow and be more well-rounded by adding new skills and functions.



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You say be inflexible on candidate fit, but does that result in hiring all the same kind of people where

you lose the benefit of having employees with diverse characters, styles etc?

It’s less about making sure every candidate is the same, but that they can work well together and have a positive attitude. The values you dictate set your company’s culture and people don’t need to be the same while still believing those values. For example, at BambooHR, one of our core values is that we do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. I believe there are people of all kinds of character and diversity that believe that. It’s about building a team, not making sure everyone is the same.



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What are some tips for engaging and re-energizing long tenured employees?

I think the most important thing you can do to get long tenured (as well as newer) employees to engage and re-energize is by getting them to start thinking like owners. What do you think makes the owner of a company care so much? Because they have value to gain when the company succeeds. What can your long tenured employees gain from success? Do they get recognition when they do something amazing? Do they even get a thank you? It’s important that they get something out of doing more than the status quo. Let your employees have the freedom to have ownership over their projects. If they’ve been there a while, you know you can trust them. Let them show you how much ownership they really can take and then be sure to recognize and reward their efforts.



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Can Mike give more specific, physical examples of ways to say Thank You besides the verbal? What

are some unique best practices?

These things are a mixture of human and systemic, or systematic in our business. You should try and say thank you every day when people leave. We also have some things like we like to celebrate—we’ll have cake and we have different things to celebrate when people do different things that we specifically want to say thank you for. But then also within our performance management system, we actually encourage feedback all the time. We encourage people to actually give positive feedback and thank others for work they’ve done. Particularly in small teams. If you’re in a team environment and people are competing in some way, we make it very, very clear that part of that company culture is that you thank people.



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Do you have any additional tips for getting candidates from the phone screen to the office for a face to face interview?

I feel like my company does a pretty good job with the recruiting tips that you have shared today, but we still have a large issue with cancellation rates from scheduled interviews

to those that actually show up. We recruit for mostly entry level sales positions within the finance industry.

I think that’s just the nature of the beast. Look at the process and each steps and communication in the process. Try to find out where you’re losing applicants in the funnel. When are they not calling back? What communication are you sending to them? Is it enticing for them to come in? How do you you incentivize them to engage with you? I would take a close look at each step in your process.



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How do you educate company owners that is not just up to HR to retain employees?

This is where that exit interview can really help you. Take notes and try to get an honest responses to why employees are leaving. Then create a report or share the results with the owner. Be matter-of-fact about what you’re learning and share ideas that could help with retention. Chances are some of those ideas will fall under managers or owners and others.



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There’s been no talk regarding money or total compensation. Can you please address this MAJOR item. All I heard was “fair.”Please expound on this?

When we look at compensation, our starting point is probably always the market. It’s one of those features you have to kind of be aware what the market is for different roles. So if if we’re looking for a web designer, we take careful look at what web designers are worth in the area because you know, it’s a competitive world for candidates. I think that that’s kind of the other starting point. When it comes to putting together compensation, I think we spend a lot of time just understanding what’s appealing to candidates. What do our employees want concerning the different parts of compensation—whether they’re base salary, or bonus, or some of the benefits. You can use tools that will evaluate jobs within a specific location, such as SalaryScout, Payscale, Glassdoor and Salary.com.

http://www.salaryscout.com/

http://www.payscale.com/

http://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm

http://www.salary.com/



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We ask people, where have you been? We look at other job postings, we look at who else is hiring around us geographically in the market to make sure that we’re aware so we can talk openly and honestly about it. What’s the right amount? What’s a fair amount? Basically, is that individual willing to work for that amount?



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So let’s say we have 4 vendors between insurance and payroll. What is the relationship between BambooHR and the other vendor software?

That’s the relationship between BambooHR and between Cornerstone and between any other software. So there’s two lines of thinking. First, you’ve got the suite model versus the best of breed. On the enterprise side, you’ve got really expensive, legacy software that canwrap it all together and do everything and it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars. But most small businesses are using several different vendors that do what they do very, very well and it goes back to that puzzle piece. What’s that right fit for you? Do you need every feature? Do you need the software to brush your teeth and tie your shoes for you or do you need it to perform some specific function?



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For BambooHR, we love to say we play well with everybody. We want businesses to use what’s right for them and then we will integrate. We have an open API and that’s how BambooHR and CornerstoneOnDemand share data. When you hire someone and they go into BambooHR, data is immediately shared with CornerstoneOnDemand for the performance and retention side of things and there’s no duplicate entry. There’s no manual process; it just seamlessly happens. So that’s actually the relationship between the core HR areas and between CornerstoneOnDemand.

So if you’re finding the right technology they should talk to each other in the right way. Payroll is difficult. A lot of those systems are legacy, and they don’t have kind of API web hook, kind of the high tech features that you might need. Call CornerstoneOnDemand’s guys and ask them who they integrate with and how that works. On BambooHR’s end, you can also see all of the partners that we integrate with and finding the puzzle pieces that fit together in the right way.



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What’s the best HR recruiting software that responses back to applicants?

There is a broad range of recruiting software solutions and it really depends on the specific job you’re trying to perform. So we hesitate to recommend anything specific without knowing more.



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I understand the need to hold off until you find the right candidate, but do you ever “settle” in order to provide at least some service to clients that need it?

Sadly, yes. But we wish we hadn’t. You always end up paying the price.



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Lots of companies are performing ‘Mass’ interviewing. What do you think of this approach? Can you really

choose a candidate based on such a rushed interview approach in which you may interview 10 people in one

day for the same position?

This group-approach to interviewing can be effective if you’re looking to fill a position that is high-stress. If you’re needing certain traits (like communication and cooperation with others, as well as leadership qualities like working under stress) that will be apparent in a group interview, then this can be a good option. I think it’s still important to talk to the person you want to hire one-on-one and take the time to make sure the applicant is a good skill and culture fit.



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Do you contact every candidate even if they do not have any of the requirements that you posted for?

This is where automating emails can really benefit you. If you receive 300 applications for a job, it can be a good practice (and it can really reflect your brand) to send out a friendly (but automated) email that states that you appreciate them putting time and effort into sending in their application but that it didn’t work out this time. Remember to always use the voice of your brand in any communication. You never know when one of those applicants who didn’t work out the first time may the next.



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What are some interview questions you never ask?

Of course I try to stay away from questions about religion, age, or parenthood that might get you into any type of legal trouble. I try to stick with questions that really tell if the applicant can do what needs to be done to fill the position. That’s the real meat. However, it’s okay to ask some indirect questions that might tell more about the soft skills of the applicant, like attitude and ability to work well with others.



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What do you say or how can you be creative with testing your applicants abilities with taking into

account not to say the wrong thing like discussed in the job posting?

We really believe in transparency where it makes sense. We would consider thoughtful questions that are open-ended and allow the candidate to reveal themselves. (We give this answer noting that it’s a confusing question.) =)



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What will be great ways to keep up with your star performers?

I think it’s important to always keep in constant communication with them about what they’re doing and how they’re handling projects. Of course, you should recognize and reward your star performers when they’re doing great things.



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How long is too fast?

While it’s important to respond quickly with applicants, you still need to do your part behind the scenes. Did you check those references (and find a couple indirect references as well)? While gut can be important, it can also get you into trouble if you don’t verify.



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What is your take on a candidate that jumps from a job to another in less than a year?

It depends on the candidate. Follow your hiring strategy, stick to it—skills, gut, references. and if they answer with logical answers, you feel good about it, then go for it. If they give you weird answers, something’s up.



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In hiring, what are some good ways to make sure the candidate meets your culture?

You can ask more revealing interview questions about what kind of a culture does your applicant like (or not like). Also, ask them about the cultures they’ve experienced at previous companies and whether or not it worked for them. Another important thing to do is make sure to outline your company’s values and see how the applicant responds to them.



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What are good resources to find compensation comparisons?

Some of our favorite compensation comparisons include SalaryScout, Payscale, Glassdoor and Salary.com. These are great websites where you can find pay averages for your location. But remember, you may want to be even more generous if there’s an applicant you really want in a field with shortages.

http://www.salaryscout.com/

http://www.payscale.com/

http://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm

http://Salary.com