Workforce Therapy Files

The Workforce Therapy Files team attended the 2024 Kentucky SHRM Conference, in Louisville. We took the opportunity to interview over 20 professionals who stopped by our booth.

In this segment, we interview Eric Del Valle, Associate Director, Vaco.

To learn more, visit: https://www.vaco.com/locations/louisville-kentucky/

Eric, thanks for stopping by to speak with us!

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

The Workforce Therapy Files team attended the 2024 Kentucky SHRM Conference, in Louisville. We took the opportunity to interview over 20 professionals who stopped by our booth.

In this segment, we interview Rawleigh Richardson, Sr., Founder/Principal Consultant for HumanKind Consulting.

To learn more, visit: https://www.humankindhrconsulting.com/

Rawleigh, thanks for stopping by to speak with us!

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

The Workforce Therapy Files team attended the 2024 Kentucky SHRM Conference, in Louisville. We took the opportunity to interview over 20 professionals who stopped by our booth.

In this segment, we interview Brad Long, City of Madisonville Deputy City Administrator.

To learn more, visit: https://www.madisonvilleliving.com

Brad, thanks for stopping by to speak with us!

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

The Workforce Therapy Files team attended the 2024 Kentucky SHRM Conference, in Louisville. We took the opportunity to interview over 20 professionals who stopped by our booth.

In this segment, we interview Kirsten Homer, City of Bowling Green.

To learn more, visit: https://www.bgky.org/

Kirsten, thanks for stopping by to speak with us!

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

The Workforce Therapy Files team attended the 2024 Kentucky SHRM Conference, in Louisville. We took the opportunity to interview over 20 professionals who stopped by our booth.

In this segment, we interview Andrea Flanders, Director of Sponsor Relations for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

To learn more, visit: https://www.kychamber.com/

Andrea, thanks for stopping by to speak with us!

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

File 16: In today's file, the team welcomes Dr. Brad Shuck to the podcast. He is a researcher at the University of Louisville and a co-founder of OrgVitals, a data analytics platform. The team has mentioned OrgVitals in previous episodes. According to the website, it's "the only solution that correlates and tracks organizational performance to employee wellbeing and culture, and then maps this across your organization for you to see the impact across relationships." It's going to be a terrific discussion!

What is OrgVitals?

Brad co-founded OrgVitals with Charley Miller and Kristina Rodriguez. They take data that may have been overlooked/ignored and they bring life to it. The team helps leaders proactively put data into action. Brad developed some intellectual property assets as a researcher at the University of Louisville. Some of that IP is integral to the capabilities OrgVitals offers. They are exploring ways to leverage AI along with the other data-driven insights provided to clients of OrgVitals.

What Size Company Would Use OrgVitals?

The target market is evolving. Initially, they worked with small to medium-size companies. However, over the past 12 months, they've also begun working with enterprise-size companies. The size of the client's organization is fairly agnostic when it comes to the opportunity and value it can derive from leveraging the innovative approaches to insights provided by OrgVitals and its data analytics. They are literally creating "the future of work."

What Is Happening in the Workplace Today?

Molley asks a broad question. It's one Brad talks about a lot these days. There are significant trends and changes impacting the workplace, some might say, like never before. As the evolution picks up speed, it can be unsettling for some leaders and their respective organizations. In reality, there's no going back. It's time to adapt. As Brad comments, "There's really no putting toothpaste back into the tube." The key is to recognize what's happened or changed and then to take action on those changes.

Jason aligns Brad's explanation with how we deal with other situations. Namely, we need to focus on being present, here and now. Molley comments on how leaders may wish some things could return to the relative calm of previous cycles, and yet enjoy the innovation and forward thinking of today. It requires a fine balance if leaders are going to continue to grow themselves and those who make up their organizations.

Dealing with Advancements in AI

Brad is excited by the changes and possibilities new technology is opening up for us. He admits there needs to be a define ethics around the use of artificial intelligence, as well as some limits put into place as safeguards. Nonetheless, he disagrees with those who assume AI will eventually put them out of a job.

As an example, Brad relates a conversation with another tech pioneer. Think of the efficiencies we've benefitted from due to the invention of the assembly line. It's produced stronger numbers, while ensuring the price to the consumer was much less than it would be, if cars were still hand-crafted. People were worried about job-displacement when assembly lines were first introduced. In reality the demand for automobiles surged, leading to an increased demand for workers and those with more advanced skills. Brad sees the same types of trends developing, as AI begins to take hold. In his opinion, it's going to be a terrific revolution.

The group discusses how AI will foster more time for focusing on communication and interpersonal connections, rather than focusing on mundane tasks. It'll provide more time for developing relationships.

How We Communicate Will Change

Brad explains how he sees AI impacting how we communicate. Just watch how differently your children communicate with their friends compared to how you did it years ago. The adoption of technology has significantly impacted communication styles and capabilities.

The world is much different today. It's important that we are willing to embrace the changes. We need to help others to learn/develop that skill, as we move toward a more connected future.

The Importance of Wellness & the Currencies of Work

Jamie transitions into Brad's views about how wellness impacts your overall health. The OrgVitals team has written various articles on this topic. She asks Brad to describe what he views as the currencies of work. They aren't what we might traditionally imagine.

Brad defines a currency of work as something that is moving the needle on motivation, engagement, creativity and innovation. It's a driving force, in the workplace, right now. OrgVitals has compiled comments and observations from thousands of people who are describing their experiences at work.

This data has been distilled down and cross-referenced with other data Brad's done as a University of Louisville researcher and with colleagues.

Adequate pay is still an important factor. This is one of the primary issues a company needs to solve relative to its workforce. Without a solution, people will not lean-in.

5 Other Currencies Beyond Adequate Pay That Are Moving People Forward

The first currency is stability. Most of our current environments probably feel unstable right now. Our political, financial and global environments are unstable. Employees are seeking a place where there's a sense of stability. This might relate to simply knowing what's expected of them at work. Without that, people can't begin to understand the resources they need to do the work for which they will eventually be evaluated.

Brad describes a recent meeting with an executive team from a Fortune 50 company. A newly promoted executive entered the room (literally after having been promoted minutes earlier). There were obvious indications she was unclear regarding expectations and other vital factors. It was a bit uncomfortable for the newly promoted executive, as well as for Brad.

It's important to understand the "artifacts of stability." Where are the communication channels? How does an individual identify those things on which they can depend, within an organization that is swimming in instability? It's incumbent upon leaders to find a way to instill some sense of stability, for the benefit of those who are committed to the overall success of the organization.

The second currency is flexibility. Managing return to work is a big issue for many employers. Setting the right policy seems to be a challenge. Brad describes flexibility in terms of having agency in one's work. Does the individual feel even a small sense of control (e.g. agency) in how the work gets done and where it gets performed?

Brad recommends rather than talking about where the work gets done (regardless of whether it's remote/hybrid/etc.), instead we should be talking about accessibility and agency. Where we can afford that for employees, we should do that. Adopting this position can be a competitive advantage for organizations.

Jamie adds perspectives about how she coaches organizations to start with their customers and work backwards. Open your eyes to the fact that each role has a customer-relationship with the others in the organization. Do you understand your "customer's" expectations? If you can meet the expectations from where you want to work, maybe you're in the right location (home/hybrid/etc.).

The risk to flexibility is boundaries. Organizations need to embrace the fact that not everyone is on the clock, all of the time. Jamie and Jason describe an approach to staffing at retailers. The employees listed the times they'd be available, and then the manager would open up the gap-hours to other employees who would be willing to work at those times.

The third currency of work is integration. Brad relates this to the various areas of life that have not traditionally be included in the value proposition of work; but now are. It's impacting how employees are thinking about their work. These areas include our health and wellbeing, our families, our community engagement and how we connect with people outside of work.

Jason describes how his company operates remotely, across 8 cities. When asked how he knows what his employees are doing, the answer is simple. If the job gets done, then they must be doing what they needed to do. It's about client satisfaction and results. Our work-styles have changed. That change, however, opens up opportunities to accomplish other important tasks related to our personal lives.

Brad comments about how people are now asking whether it's worth it to forego opportunities such as going the gym or coaching soccer? Is there a way to extend the timeline to enable people to make different decisions about the traditional value proposition? It's something leaders are being forced to grapple with on a macro basis.

The fourth currency is purpose. The importance of purpose has taken on a more critical factor. Meaningless tasks are being rejected. It's led to the increase in quiet quitting and minimal Mondays. Brad observes that the idea of purpose is a north star for many people in the workplace and in other areas of their lives. Expecting people to just do the job because they should, isn't enough. Supervisors, managers and leaders need to focus on explaining how the work is impacting the overall objectives of the organization.

Interestingly, Brad says it's not so much as explaining the meaning as it is in not killing the meaning. He uses the example of a new teacher on her/his first day verses that same teacher 5 years later. At the outset, the individual saw clear meaning in the work. Over time, unfortunately, that meaning gets diminished or crushed.

If you want to instill a sense of purpose in someone's work, you have to tell them about the positive impact they're making. Remind them of it as often as possible. Jamie adds that this is a good reminder for managers who need to refocus their teams on the common objective/goal/benefit of what they are tasked to achieve.

The fifth currency of work is belonging. Brad's wife is quoted as saying, "We can do hard things together." That sentiment is much different if we feel isolated or alone. That's when doing hard things becomes a much harder task. If we can develop a community of others who have proven they have our backs, we can make it through much more difficult situations, together.

How can an employer foster a sense of belonging? Jamie recommends listening to File 8 dealing with onboarding. Another recommendation is to focus less on items around the workplace, such as a ping pong table. Instead demonstrate that you understand your team has lives outside of work.

Resist the temptation to try to rank the importance of the 5 currencies of work. Rather, begin to realize that they are factors in shaping how work is being experienced.

Brad returns to Jason's question about fostering a sense of belonging. His recommendation is to have a meal with individuals in your organization. Breaking bread and sharing time with people can be a game changer.

The Bonus Currency of Work

There is a sixth currency that Brad sees emerging in the workplace. It's the area of wellbeing. New research indicates suggests work can exacerbate your risk for long-term, chronic diseases. It's not surprising. Brad describes a 3-year project that compiled and analyzed data to show how someone's risk is either elevated or decreased, based on biological data combined with social science data around the workplace experience. The findings are groundbreaking.

In closing, Molley comments on the reality that being a business owner or C-suite leader are the loneliest roles in a company. The solution is to surround yourself with people whom you trust to be vulnerably honest with you. Without them, you'll fail because you can't do this on your own.

We'd like to thank Dr. Brad Shuck for joining us on the Workforce Therapy Files podcast.

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

File 15: In today's file, the team is going to focus on how to plan and execute effective recruiting campaigns. There are 5 Golden Rules to consider, before you begin.

Molley begins with some stats about the podcast and the growth it's experiencing. Interestingly, most podcasts that launch never actually make it beyond 10 episodes. It's may sound surprising, but it's true. The Workforce Therapy Files podcast is on File 15 and continues to build steam.

Jason transitions us into the main topic of the 5 Golden Rules of Recruiting Campaigns.

The First Golden Rule – Creating a Plan

Beyond simply creating a plan, someone needs to own and manage the plan for the organization. When the plan achieves its expected results, Jamie points out that it's important to let your team and the organization know it worked. Celebrating key milestones and successes is vital when it comes to encouraging people to continue with the plan.

The Second Golden Rule – Do Surveys

If you don't have a plan, you can't execute it. Molley describes a discovery process that's needed to ensure you understand what you know, as well as what you don't. It comes down to communication. Consider implementing a survey and/or small focus groups. Involve key constituencies of people who are performing a certain activity, along with others who have decided to no longer participate. You want to learn about the public and the internal perception of your organization.

The next step is to ask the public and your internal workforce, "What do you think of our brand, as an organization?" Are there specific things people enjoy or don't enjoy about interacting with your organization? However, be prepared for candid feedback. It may not always be pleasant, but it's important to get a reality check.

Implementing a social listening campaign is a great tactic. Monitor and measure your social media channels for feedback. This should also be extended to the various review channels where people rate their satisfaction with your organization. You can purchase tools to automate this process. Jason's company, CrowdSouth, does this for clients. Whichever way you decide to monitor the data, you need to have someone appointed to be responsible for collecting, interpreting and reporting the findings on a regular basis.

Jamie points out the convergence of customer feedback and employee feedback. Each impacts the other. If the marketing team is exclusively focused on customers, there can be a gap between what employees are communicating in the feedback loop.

The Third Golden Rule – Utilize Your Brand Ambassadors

Jamie encourages companies to pay attention to your brand ambassadors. These are the people working in your organization. Employee engagement surveys and employee sentiment surveys provide extremely valuable insights. Reviewing exit interview data is also helpful. The exiting employee is going to give direct feedback about working there.

The Fourth Golden Rule – Publicize Your Positive Actions

Once you've collected and synthesized the data, you can apply it to your employer-branding campaign. Jason cautions that you shouldn't expect to necessarily acquire new customers or make a 40% jump in new hires, solely as a result of that campaign. The goal is to enable you to make an adjustment by shining a light on your business and who you are. It's an opportunity for you to highlight members and departments within the organization who are having a positive impact on the company, it's customers and the community. Resist the temptation as leaders to try to step into the spotlight and overshadowing others.

The above-described process will help to prime the pump for the next step, which is a workforce marketing campaign. This is where you'll actually focus on driving prospective candidates to your talent team; your recruiters and staffers. You've addressed some of the deficiencies, now you're ready to encourage people to take action. Now, you're prepared to begin a recruiting campaign. This may be to get someone to complete an application. Maybe you're just looking to generate leads for your talent team to follow-up. Define your desired outcome(s) and implement the necessary activities to achieve them.

Molley raises a concern that when organization expend the effort needed begin building a funnel for talent acquisition, but fails to build the internal capacity to manage the incoming flow of applicants and/or leads. It won't turn out well.

If a candidate were to apply for a position, but never hears back from the company, it's a significant failure. You've now wasted significant money and effort. Even if the person didn't meet the qualifications, a decline letter should be sent. However, that letter should include ways to encourage the person to continue to look for opportunities within the organization.

Jamie explains how she's take the step to pause a campaign to allow her to consider and follow-up with the leads she's received. It's a chance to provide feedback and to direct those interested parties to other organizational resources to maintain their engagement, if not for this particular role, possibly from some future role. Then, she turned the campaign on again and proceeded to continue fielding other candidates. Remember the importance of the candidate experience for both the ones you intend to hire, as well as the ones whom you might hire down the road.

Understand that it's okay to pivot. Molley explains it an essential part of successful workforce advertising campaigns. Resist the temptation to stay locked into the "this is how we've always done it" mentality.

Jamie encourages you to pivot based on some of the feedback you received in from the listening campaign. Maybe you fixed an issue that had been commented about by employees, on public forums. She uses the example of a work environment that gets uncomfortably hot. If your company has installed fans or taken other steps to mitigate the heat, consider making that known. It's a way to demonstrate the company cares about its employees and lets the public know this is a good place to work, by how you responded to the concerns of the company's workforce.

Jason builds on this point by giving an example of how an organization can proactively communicate to the public what the issue was and how the issue was resolved. Now, you have a reason to tell a great story that positively impacts the organization's brand image.

The Fifth Golden Rule – Build Your Pipeline

Jason discusses Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). It's not always a simple platform. Some large organizations have legacy systems that are required to be used, regardless of the flexibility or functional requirements.

Jamie comments on this topic from an HR compliance perspective. While the use of an ATS provides documentation for the company related to its recruiting activities. However, it's not a requirement that everyone go through the ATS. As long as you have a way to document who has applied, how you marketed for open positions and whether they received a similar consideration.

The challenge occurs where you're using leads and require some type of assessment. The lead needs to go through the activities required to indicate someone is a qualified applicant. Your candidates must go through the same application process. Anyone who has expressed interest in your roles should be considered a candidate.

How companies approach the process might seem like extra work, but maybe it's simply "different" work. Jamie refers to a previous episode in which the team discussed how targeting people interested in Legos might uncover candidates who would function well in specific roles. You're either going to be weeding out unqualified leads or chasing definitely qualified leads. It's still work, but in this case, it's different. So, as Jason explains, you can often utilize a lead generation campaign to generate interest, before asking those individuals to submit the formal application. You might have a better chance of converting the lead to an applicant.

Molley is seeing a situation in which the companies are filling all of their open positions. That's terrific news. Now, it's time for managers to shift focus. You may still be getting inquiries from interested candidates, but you don't have an open position. You still need to build a talent pool pipeline. Are there people who could fill the pipeline, even though they might not be immediately available? You should develop a communication process to maintain their interest and engagement during the gap/delay.

Environment and rewards structure are important factors in an individual's decision to pursue a position with a particular company. It's also a factor while they're actively employee with your organization. File 10 covered some of these issues more in-depth. You'll be able to access related information in Files 8 and 9 via links embedded the show notes for File 10.

If you need help with pieces of your campaign, or need a team to manage the entire process, we are here to help. Check out our contact information, provided below. We'd enjoy the opportunity to engage with you and your organization.

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

File 14: In today's file, the team discusses ways to overcome workforce gaps by attracting workers from non-traditional sources. As the needs of your organization evolves, finding enough of the right candidates may be more challenging than it needs to be. This file will offer some ways for you to identify and engage the marketplace.

Jamie begins with a question/comment from a listener who brings up the point that there are more job openings than there are people to fill them in Kentucky (and other states). In particular, the listener mentioned the metals companies which offer difficult, entry-level rolls. The companies will likely relocate operations if they can't find enough workers. Jamie comments that even in healthcare, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified workers. This gap between available jobs and applicants to fill those jobs isn't going to go away anytime soon.

It's important to realize many of the previous episodes on attraction and retention should be considered "table stakes." Basically, they get you in the game. So, now what?

Overcoming Language Barriers

Jason describes a scenario in which one of his clients was trying to hire quite a few welders. The local market didn't have enough people with that skill or who were willing to get trained in welding. One of Jason's connections let him know that a recent group of immigrants (i.e. new Americans) actually had experience welding and more who would be willing to learn. The challenge was the perceived language barrier. None of them spoke English.

The company quickly realized the expense of hiring a translator would be well worth it, given the project could commence. This was an unanticipated cost, but it enabled an innovative solution to the problem.

Jamie sees value in having an actual translator, instead of simply relying upon someone in the group to take on the responsibility of translating for the other employees. It's a meaningful strategy because it opens the door to an overlooked population of potential new candidates for your open roles. In Jason's case, it involved new Americans with limited English language capabilities. Now, expand a similar mode of thinking to enable your organization to recruit people with hearing impairments or sight limitations. This could even expand to those with other types of disabilities.

Molley discusses a client with locations in cities across the country. They've realized that Louisville presents specific recruiting challenges they don't typically experience in other cities. They tend to have fewer applicants and higher attendance issues. One major difference is that the client has partnered with the Hispanic Coalition in these other locations, which is helping to provide a larger pool of applicants for the available positions.

In many of those particular areas, groups of Hispanic employees live together, ride to work together and report together. It seems to promote a strong, working environment with fewer attendance issues. The key is to build out partnerships to open the doors to other people groups. Jason describes how one of his contacts works to identify and hire people with autism; many of whom might have difficulties searching for, applying for and interviewing for open roles within an organization.

In the previous file, the group discussed attracting talent for your open positions. Certain functions would be perfect for particular individuals, but identifying and engaging them might be challenging. This new approach is another way to find solutions to workforce challenges.

Molley explains that the US is 600,000 workers short when it comes to filling construction jobs. Part of the reason may be related to how employers traditionally approach the hiring process. Sometimes, you have to think out of the box.

There are opportunities to potentially automate some job functions, but the vast majority will still require a human being to perform. Small to mid-sized companies may not be able to afford the technology or AI to automate. The option of finding additional candidates is still the most likely resolution. However, how the company chooses to do that (and where) offers a number of viable possibilities.

Essential Workers

The importance and focus on this group of employees came to a head during the pandemic. Organizations need to build a success plan for essential workers. Help them to understand the "why" behind the roles they perform and how important those individuals are to the organization. It's about more than just the paycheck. Strive to create a sense of belonging and community.

Jamie suggests building a strategy around "workforce readiness" is a reactive approach. It's focused on the immediate need, rather than the long-term. If you can plan for gaps, you'll have a much more focused resolution path when the problem occurs. As Jason comments, you're going to have a "now problem" forever, unless you start planning of the future.

Think of how UPS and even the US military understand the typical duration of the people who join those operations. They set up opportunities for individuals to learn and to grow, even though they may not ultimately stay with the organization. By being prepared for the turnover, they can take proactive steps to fill those gaps. In the meantime, it was a win-win for both the individual and the organization.

Molley mentions the roughly 100,000 person shortfall in military staffing. It's quite possible people don't understand the "why" behind what the military has to offer. Sure, the paycheck seems low, but you have to take into consideration the housing benefits, healthcare benefits, training, etc. There's actually a lot being offered for the commitment being asked.

Jason point out that there's also a responsibility on the side of the individual to be willing to start out at a lower role and work himself for herself up the ladder. The military is a very viable option for future leaders and/or those who are looking to develop specific skills.

How Strong is Your Alumni Network?

If you're anticipating a gap in your workforce development, consider reaching out to previous employees. There may be individuals who would consider coming back on a part-time or more flexible working arrangement. Those individuals offer a wealth of experience and knowledge.

Some organizations may currently have 5 generations working for them. How to you develop ways for those individuals to interact and for the younger generations to absorb your organizations "tribal knowledge"? It's a challenge worth taking on, based on the benefits it can yield.

Can you develop a mentor program? Is there an option for a PRN-type arrangement enabling previous employees to fill-in for a specific duration? There are certain types of creative, non-traditional work arrangements you might need to consider, especially during your peak season.

Consider an Outside Resource

When you're in the trenches, you may not be able to look outside the box for these types of solutions. That's when bringing in an outside resource could definitely assist in resolving the issue(s).

If that's not possible consider taking your team off-site for some creative ideation around those things you don't do as an organization. Jamie recommends you incorporate the following:

• What work has to get done?
• What population do we currently have that can do the work (in-house)?
• What changes do we need to make, in the roles we have, to be able to get that work accomplished?

The above analysis may help you to see if the job responsibilities are still properly allocated/grouped. You may be able to reassign part of the task (or tasks) to someone else, such as someone that doesn't necessarily have to have a bachelor's degree. You may be able to train that other person, so that the essential work is getting done.

As leaders, don't assume you know the answers. Be confident enough to ask the team. The current job description may not be as relevant today as it once was. Roles evolve. It may be a step in helping you to maximize workforce utilization to achieve the larger goals of the organization.

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

File 13: In today's file, the team focuses on the topic of talent attraction. The environment has evolved and so has the way successful companies plan for success as it relates to recruiting and staffing their organizations. Remember, there are compliance issues you should consider when promoting your job openings. Are you ready to compete for your next, new hire?

Look How Far We've Come

Molley begins by describing how a call center she worked for attracted candidates, back in the day. They posted openings in the Help Wanted section of the newspaper. The eye-catching headlines usually included, "Immediate Opening" or "Interview and Hire in the Same Day." It was fairly bland, but that's how it was done.

Jamie recalls how a company bought an attendance list from a conference, mailed 500 postcards about job openings…and didn't receive a single response.

Lately, companies have begun using billboards, which Jason points out are difficult to measure from a lead generation perspective.

Jamie had a client who decided to recruit from a college job fair. Most of the people she spoke to didn't have the experience or even the right majors to qualify them for the openings. Many of the people who stopped by weren't all that interested to begin with, but thought they'd give it a whirl. The entire day was a bust.

From a marketing standpoint, Jason comments that the company may not have been that recognizable from a branding standpoint. Did the company's logo and tagline provide enough information to generate interest from the pool of students attending the event?

Where Does Talent Come from and How Do You Attract It?

Molley comments that many companies struggle with these 2 points. There are misconceptions surrounding how companies could be more successful in these areas. There are so many platforms that impact how the company and the individual roles are perceived. For this and other reasons, a company needs to have a plan.

With the advent of better resources, such as your computer or smartphone, are newspapers really the most effective place to market your job openings? Jason notes that many newspapers are slowly launching digital versions, which can provide advantages over traditional, print versions. Nonetheless, it's probably too late.

Social media is becoming a viable resource for companies who want to promote job openings (i.e. Facebook and the other Meta channels, Twitter or "X", LinkedIn, etc.). The traditional, online job boards such as Monster Jobs, CareerBuilder, Dice, and Indeed have evolved as viable options.

Still, Jason offers that rather than waiting for candidates to find you, you need to actively seek them. Molley agrees, especially in this market. It's important to understand the typical audience, as well as user intent, on the various social media channels. For instance, you might not spend a lot of time posting for C-suite candidates on Facebook, but LinkedIn would make sense. Even more importantly when dealing with executive roles, you need to leverage various networks.

Targeted marketing for specific roles is ever-changing. You'll need to be ready to adapt your approach. If you have a plan for successfully hiring a candidate(s), you'll be better equipped to achieve your objective.

Filing a Position involves Targeting the Right Candidates

Jason discusses how they begin by working with companies to build out candidate personas. While compliance is a significant concern for how you target your clients, there are permissible ways to wade into these waters.

Meta enables you to target using age, gender and various micro-categories. Examples include interests such as gaming, live events, reading, movies, family and relationships. There are selectors including dating, marriage, motherhood, parenting, fitness & wellness, food and drink and many more. You can use these to build personas around what you're specifically targeting.

Google enables you to target age, gender, parental status, household income and more criteria.

From an HR compliance perspective, there are times when these can be helpful. Recognize first, that what we've learned in the past are not based in what's actually required. Just because you can, doesn't necessarily mean you should.

Be Mindful of the EEOC Requirements

Jamie suggests you consult with the government requirements, or contact this team for advice. The EEOC.gov site is extremely helpful. Understand that you're not able to discriminate against protected classes in your practices. It's best to cast a wide net, including the utilization of various job boards.

Keep in mind that in reviewing your organization's demographics, are there opportunities to bolster under-represented demographics, especially for your specific locations and the type of work to be performed?

Is your organization required to have an affirmative action program? If so, you'll need to understand what market exists in the areas you're placing you job openings. You'll need to analyze your current organizational demographics. Can you identify existing gaps? If so, you actually should do targeted marketing, using the available targeting categories Jason described.

Understand, you cannot use that as a restriction. In other words, you can't say, "We're only going to hire females" or other types of limitations. You want proactively attract individuals, rather than discriminating against certain individuals.

Jason cautions employers not to simply rely on specific targeting criteria, simply because they're available to be used in a targeting strategy for your online ad. This also involves an over-reliance on your third-party vendors, as well as your internal marketing team. They don't necessarily understand the rules.

Jamie warns that you need to be aware of your actual motivations. It might be argued that you're actually unfairly, or unjustly, targeting specific demographic personas (either on purpose or not). Jason mentions that it's possible to exclude certain demographics or geographic areas, which also can lead to problems for the organization.

Using interests and similar targeting criteria can be extremely helpful. Jamie uses an example of a company targeting "LEGOs" to generate potential candidates for complex assembly work. Jason describes how selecting interests in "adjacent categories" can be a strategic way to attract qualified candidates. For instance, if you're trying to sell fancy suits, targeting the term "yachts" would be an adjacent category.

There are creative ways to utilize available categories to help you to achieve your hiring goals. It's a good idea to question why you shouldn't use the categories you just chose? It's a simple way to check to determine if there's a potential problem with the approach you're about to implement. Beware of unintended consequences.

Molley returns to the importance of actually having a plan to develop and support your strategies. Spending time trying to understand why your people remain with your organization is time well-spent. Relying solely on the feedback you receive during exit interviews isn't your only option.

By canvasing the employees who continue to return to their jobs will help you to better develop a strategy and plan around where you need to be, how you need to be and what you need to be doing to attract the right talent. The old ways of attracting talent are less effective today.

Allocating the Proper Budget for Effective Recruiting

Jamie speaks from experience when she comments that companies often under-resource the recruiting team to achieve the objectives they've been given. Where should you invest your funds, time and energy based on what you have available?

Molley strongly advocates for an employee referral program. Jason recommends utilizing Google search ads to identify people who are looking for your specific job or role, instead of casting a broader net. He agrees with the focus on referrals. From an HR compliance perspective, Jamie understands why ads need to be written a certain way, but by harnessing the power of targeting criteria, it can positively impact the effectiveness of your ad. Molley builds on this comment by encouraging you to be consistent in your deliverables. You want your candidate experiences are aligned with the marketing messages across all prospective candidates.

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!

File 12: In today's file, the team dives into the importance of employer branding. How does this fit in to a podcast that's generally about recruiting, staffing and HR? Simple. If you want to attract quality employees, company leaders need to understand how their organization is viewed by the general public. Is it a brand people want to associate with or are there negative connotations about the organization and its work environment? If it's the latter, there's a direct connection between employer branding and its ability to effectively manage its workforce.

Understanding the Term "Employer Branding"

Jason owns CrowdSouth, a marketing agency that works with large organizations. He begins by explaining that branding is not about your logo, your color scheme or a font. Branding is how an audience feels about you. An employer brand refers to how people feel about you as an employer, rather than simply the product or service you provide.

WHY Should a Company Focus on This?

People are often confused with why they need to focus on their employee brand. Jason states that you may need to revive it. If there's really no sentiment (+/-) about your employer brand, you may need to inject some energy into it. In other situations, you may need to take steps to adjust it or completely correct the current perception in the marketplace.

Jamie discusses a time when she accepted a job to work with an employer she knew as a consumer, but not yet as an employee. She relocated to the new city and went to get her new cell phone. When she told the person across the counter that she'd just accepted a job with the local employer, the person's reaction was, let's just say, less than inspiring. The employer's brand was not viewed positively in this small town.

Molley comments that in years past, it was all about the reputation of the company, not necessarily the employee-experience. At that time, society was much more committed to staying with an employer for a longer period. The current paradigm has completely shifted. The opinion of an organization's employees matters. How that company chooses to treat its employees is an important factor in whether it keeps and attracts other employees.

Jason describes a previous situation his company was involved with several years ago. A large employer acquired a local plant. They wanted to let the local community know that changes were being made to make the plant a more inviting place to work.

Jason's team worked to secure employee testimonials to help alter the perception of the local plan, in terms of what it was like to work there. As a way of indicating if the efforts were working, they monitored Google Reviews about the facility. The star-rating increased and it resulted in being easier to recruit new employees.

Keeping the Feedback and Opinions Authentic

People are naturally skeptical of attempts to change long-held opinions or perceptions. Jason suggests a few ways to approach the effort.

Employee surveys and public sentiment surveys can provide useful feedback. Customer survey results can provide additional insights. Taking steps to secure testimonials from employees who were there before the changes and chose to stick with the company now that the changes have been implemented tend to be good stories to leverage.

You have to be able to admit there's a problem, if you actually want to change it.

Your Organization's Net Promotor Score

Jamie mentions that her company, Parcel, and Molley's company, Incipio, both use a survey tool from OrgVitals. She likes that the surveys ask employees for a net promoter score. This key metric is simply a measure of whether the individual is willing to recommend the organization to someone else. It's usually on a 1-5 or 1-10 scale.

Molley describes how her team researches companies that have approached Incipio. Her team Google's the company's name to see if they've been in the news (+/-). What is their Glassdoor Rating? What are people saying about the organization on Indeed? Who do they know on LinkedIn who might have insights about the company?

The point is that it's not uncommon for the leadership team to have a different perspective than what's actually being said on the street. Often the feedback Incipio gathers is the basis for a couple of discussion points:

· Are your views and perspectives aligned with the opinion on the street?

· Is this something you what to resolve?

Social Listening Campaigns

Jason discusses how his company is working with a global company, at its large facility in the region. CrowdSouth is doing a social listening campaign for them. They're pulling data from a collection of online platforms that have reviews about the company. Then, they present monthly reports detailing what's being said about the company. Jason's team synthesizes the information and they review it with the organization.

The candid feedback will enable the company to understand their employer brand (as it currently exists) before fully engaging with Jason's team. You have to accept your current reality before you can decide whether it's what you actually want that "reality" to be. Get the data first. Then, go build a strategy to move the perception in the desired direction. The result will be a much more successful effort, verses relying on your assumptions.

WHEN Should You Do This?

Jason advises clients to have a continual feedback loop enabling the company to actively monitor "the conversation." It also provides the opportunity for you to highlight positive stories through social media, as well as local and regional media. If you're not doing this, start now.

It's possible for an organization to weave its own narrative. There's no reason to simply accept how people perceive your employer brand. Take an active role in curating or influencing that brand perception.

Actively Own Your Glassdoor Page

Jamie observes that as a business, you can own your Glassdoor page. You'll have access to respond to comments about your company. But what's the best way to address less than optimal or even negative comments on your page?

Jason says the proper response depends on the scenario. If the company is involved in a lawsuit, they may need to post a link advising viewers to follow it for updates on the situation. Maybe it is a challenging situation. Have your answers ready, but don't let them sound canned. This allows you to respond and shows you took action to address it.

Molley has a slightly different take. She agrees that responses need to be posted. The adds that you should thank the person for the comment and recognize them for having spoken up about the issue. She goes a step further by encouraging management to provide phone numbers that particular individual(s) can use to speak directly to them about it. It not only gives the individual an outlet, but it also shows everyone else that your actively engaged in resolving the issue.

Candidates have a tremendous amount of power at their fingertips. As an employer, you need to be savvy about your employer branding. Employees want that in today's environment.

Anticipating a Major Hiring Push?

This is a perfect time to begin adjusting your employer brand. Don't wait until the initiative is underway, that might be too late and in some cases, it may take time for the efforts to take effect.

HOW Can an Employer Take Steps to Adjust Its Employer Brand?

This may be the biggest question. Jamie comments that this may be a surprise to the HR professionals. Yes, they have a hand in this marketing role. It's a good idea to designate someone to basically own employer brand. Make it part of the job description. This may be someone in marketing, as opposed to HR. Either way, establish it as a key responsibility.

Molley advocates to designating someone internally, rather than an external resource. Consider a short-term employee referral program to begin positively impacting the story. As that begins to take hold, then move externally with your big hiring push. Remember, your employee base can and should be brand champions. Check out File 8 for additional information on that thought.

As an organization, make sure your vision and values align directly with how you are treating your employees. For instance, if you're organization is family focused ("family first") oriented, you need to live it. Make sure it's part of performance reviews, publicize it, provide opportunities for your employees to take advantage of work-life initiatives. Make sure you're walking the walk and talking the talk, before you turn your focus outward.

Have a Consistent Narrative

A company must be mindful of the conversation that's happening, on a daily basis, about its employer brand. While some of these conversations are verbal, many are online. There are so many platforms that it might seem overwhelming. However, the key idea is to contribute to these conversations across a variety of online platforms. Craft and deliver a consistent narrative to help influence the tone and/or topics of the various conversations. Don't do it surreptitiously. Be authentic in how the company is communicating.

Jason reminds us that a brand is a living and breathing thing. It can be guided more than it can be controlled.

From an HR compliance perspective, Jamie explains that this is also consider a protected activity. If an individual comments on the company's social channel(s) or their own, about pay, benefits or working conditions, and even one employee "likes" it, the comment is now considered protected speech.

So, not only should a company contribute (i.e. nudge the conversation), this is also why implementing a listening campaign is important. If the company is aware of issues, it can take steps to actively correct and resolve them, before they take-on a life of their own, online.

Another option Jason recommends is to run an ad campaign, especially if there's an issue in an existing region. Story-telling is a great method for nudging the employer brand. Show some community compassion or something the company is doing for its employees. It's an effective way to get people focused on positive stories about your brand.

WHO Is Responsible?

Employer branding works best when it's a combination of your talent team, marketing and senior leadership. Understand that senior leadership is responsible for thought leadership throughout the organization. What they talk about, what they value, how they express it and what they encourage drives company culture and values. The talent and marketing teams can play a role in keeping leadership's narrative where it needs to be, relative to the employer brand.

That's where we'll leave the conversation for today. Before we close the file, we invite you to reach out to us with questions, suggestions or other comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Need Help Supporting Your Company's Recruiting and Staffing Goals?

We're here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions:

· Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com

· Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com

· Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com

We hope you found this file insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!