recruiting Archives - Paragon Strategic Staffing https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/tag/recruiting/ Fri, 21 Oct 2022 15:22:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/cropped-paragon-logo-32x32.png recruiting Archives - Paragon Strategic Staffing https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/tag/recruiting/ 32 32 From Power Suits to Hoodies: The Changing Business Dress Code in 2022 https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/from-power-suits-to-hoodies-the-changing-business-dress-code-in-2022/ Fri, 21 Oct 2022 15:22:41 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=10067 The 1980s and 1990s were the era of wearing power suits, and they defined the business environment. As times change, so does the corporate dress code. Wearing a t-shirt on a conferenceRead More...

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The 1980s and 1990s were the era of wearing power suits, and they defined the business environment. As times change, so does the corporate dress code.

Wearing a t-shirt on a conference call or a hoodie at Google’s office is the new normal. The business dress code is becoming more casual and flexible to highlight our skills and performance but is still imbued with a fashion sense. Where are these trends coming from, and how should managers respond?

The Tech Industry Pioneering Casual Attire

Big companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook are famous for their casual office attire. Dressed in hoodies and jeans, the employees behind Sundar Pichai, Evan Williams and Mark Zuckerburg are headlining fashion trends in the tech industry.

While the “dress to impress” mantra is still valid, changes in dress codes prove that it’s not all about the looks. Intellect and performance are more important in business nowadays, especially in the digital-first ambience, as the tech giants demonstrate.

After the casual dress code revolutionized the tech industry, it also caught up with the booming landscape of start-ups. During the rise of start-up culture, many small businesses quickly grew to become corporate giants in an informal atmosphere.

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Other Industries Embracing the Casual Dress Code

Now, other industries are chiming in on the trend too.

“Dress codes in the finance sector have historically had the most conservative, formal standards, and even those are changing,” said New York-based alumna for Goldman Sachs Jessica Cadmus, who works as a stylist in the corporate world.

In 2019, Goldman Sachs published a memo announcing a shift towards “a more casual environment,” and they’re not the only ones. Morgan Stanley and other investment banks are also embracing the change.

Other industries are also driving change. The British airline Virgin Atlantic also relaxed its dress code by allowing flight attendants to wear pants and not forcing them to put make-up on so that they have “an increased level of comfort” and “more choice” to express individuality. The retail world is following suit: Target, for example, now allows employees to wear blue jeans every day at work.

Gen Z Is Shaping the New Business Dress Code

The emerging cohort of workers is the tech-savvy and fashion-forward Gen Z. As such, businesses are adapting their corporate dress codes to attract top talent from the young generation.

The new dress code is dictated by the latest trends in menswear, taking a more flexible approach. That means that knitwear will dominate the office style during sweater weather. Wider cuts, belted overcoats, and men’s loafers are the top fashion and shoe trends for this autumn, so expect to see them around the office.

Changing the Dress Code Reflects Changing Mindsets

While the shift in the business dress code is evident, even in historically rigid industries such as finance, some employers have clung to formalwear in the workplace.

Just like hiring managers would enlist the desired skills and requirements in a job advert and recruiters would prepare their clients, talking about the new dress code can help put everyone on the same page, especially employers.

If you’re a recruiter, you may have clients who insist on finding a candidate that fits their outdated dress code. But they could miss out on innovative talent by judging them based on their outfit. In that case, it’s your job to take them through the new business code and the benefits of adopting it. Bring the stats in: studies show that 61% of employees are more productive when they have a relaxed dress code. Show them some candidates that don’t fit the current dress code but have the perfect skillset. You’re the expert, and they’ve hired you for a reason, so bring that expertise to bear.

As part of adapting to the hybrid working environment, it’s important to start reworking our collective mindset around the new business dress code and other changes that come with that. Mastering this can help position us better in the evolved business landscape.

The shift towards a more casual dress code is accelerating as employees are looking to embrace comfort and individuality. A more flexible work attire means a happier workforce, better productivity, and more gains for the company.

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How Can Recruitment Agencies Build a Strong Tech Stack? https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/how-can-recruitment-agencies-build-a-strong-tech-stack/ Tue, 18 Oct 2022 08:00:53 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=10059 Leaders and consultants within recruitment agencies across all sectors have warmed to the value of recruitment technology in recent years. Automation has granted agencies significantly increased efficiency, productivity and effectiveness. It’s noRead More...

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Leaders and consultants within recruitment agencies across all sectors have warmed to the value of recruitment technology in recent years. Automation has granted agencies significantly increased efficiency, productivity and effectiveness. It’s no longer a question of whether agencies choose to integrate their recruitment technology — it’s a question of how effectively they do so.

Evaluating Processes and Technology

Today, software enables agencies across the globe to reduce their administrative burden and speed up the placement process. This is especially pertinent within the current market as agencies grapple with rapid regulatory changes in the domain of candidate screening and compliance. It has never been more urgent for recruitment businesses to assess their tech stack in line with ever-changing needs.

Whether large or small, tech-savvy or tech-starved, all agencies should go through calculated decision-making when introducing new software into their organization. Firstly, leaders need to consider the overall aims of the implementation project and their desired end state. Only then can they start to determine what processes they are looking to change and automate and envisage what the tech stack might look like by the end of the project.

This future-gazing approach involves evaluating the existing resources within the agency to ensure that any new software will be integrated and adopted throughout the business. Recruitment firms that are in the early stages of the digital transformation process should opt for a stack that can be easily maintained without additional resources. Most agencies will now choose cloud-based solutions where the software is delivered as a service over the internet and the provider is responsible for security, availability and performance freeing users from complex software and hardware management.

Once these initial decisions have been made, decision-makers can begin to review the market and what suppliers can offer.

PREMIUM CONTENT: Largest Staffing Firms in Canada and Market Outlook 2022

Structuring the Tech Stack so Operations Run Seamlessly

Recruitment technology is diversifying at a rapid rate with a wide range of offerings on the market.  Buyers should therefore ensure that they delve deep into the software’s capabilities, ensuring that they thoroughly research what the software can do for their business. Alongside current functionality, it’s important to discover what is in the roadmap, determine how frequently the software will be upgraded and assess the credentials of the provider.

For recruitment organizations with outdated technology in their stack, upgrading to an efficient recruitment CRM to handle all aspects of permanent and temporary placements is vital to stay ahead of the competition. By avoiding manual systems and siloed data, consultants can better collaborate with their team to place workers at speed.

For high-volume staffing agencies, a CRM that offers strong shift management needs to be paired with effective payment and billing software allowing them to process hundreds of timesheets for dozens of clients simultaneously. Having access to software which automates the payment and billing process not only saves time but ensures a high level of accuracy that keeps clients and candidates on side and compliance in check.

Delivering High Returns for Business Growth

As with any major business purchase, there will always be an adjustment period whilst employees get to grips with any new software’s capabilities and an understanding and buy-in as to how it improves their workflows.

Businesses need to ensure that they are receiving a significant return on their investment by measuring the results and tracking associated KPIs.

For example, consultants may currently manually schedule candidate interviews using external video-conferencing software. This may only take a couple of minutes, but when considering how many candidates consultants engage with on a daily basis, the minutes begin to add up. What if consultants could seamlessly schedule video interviews within their recruitment CRM? Measuring speed to hire is an important metric with time saved invested into placing more candidates and ultimately driving revenue.

Knowing that the impact of the software will be inspected may also help to increase adoption, especially if best use cases are shared and celebrated.

Building a strong tech stack allows recruitment agencies to free up their consultants’ time, creates a more enjoyable candidate experience and aids worker retention. When leveraging the best recruitment software for enhanced automation, agencies can increase efficiency and, therefore, have the freedom to do more.

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Developing a Future-Proof Recruitment Market https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/developing-a-future-proof-recruitment-market/ Mon, 10 Oct 2022 08:00:58 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=10037 The events of the last month have thrown a range of new hurdles at us all. While we expected the announcement of the new Prime Minister to take center stage for September,Read More...

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The events of the last month have thrown a range of new hurdles at us all. While we expected the announcement of the new Prime Minister to take center stage for September, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II took the country by surprise. It was, however, the announcements in the Chancellor’s Mini Budget that hit the recruitment sector hardest.

Not-so Mini Budget

Kwasi Kwarteng’s statement towards the end of last month saw a wealth of revelations from the Truss administration. Perhaps the greatest shock for the recruitment sector was the repeal of the IR35 regulations. APSCo has been calling for a reversal on Off Payroll or at least a review of the legislation, which we felt was simply unsuitable for the modern world of work for some time. While we were surprised at the unexpected U-turn, it was certainly testament to the success of our public policy and lobbying teams who have worked tirelessly to communicate with the relevant Ministers and Government bodies to voice the concerns of the recruitment sector on this matter.

It was also highly promising to see the recognition that a localized, sector-based skills focus needs to be prioritized to drive growth. Changes to Income Tax and the reversal of plans to increase Dividend Tax will help grow the flexible workforce once again, following a decline in contractor activity post-IR35. And while plans for immigration reviews are in the pipeline, it’s encouraging to note that the government is currently recognizing the need to bolster the country’s skills and resources.

But that doesn’t mean that the talent troubles of the UK are over. In fact, the dearth of skills is still being widely reported. And according to our latest data, talent shortages could be set to increase further in the immediate future as salary increases fail to keep up with inflation.

PREMIUM CONTENT: The Talent Platform Landscape: 2022 Update

Staff Demand Soars While Salaries Drop

When looking at APSCo’s own Recruitment Trends Snapshot, it is certainly interesting to see the changes in pay over the last few years. Looking back on August 2020, when Covid restrictions were first beginning to ease, the number of vacancies and placements across permanent and contract roles had spiked. In fact, the number of permanent jobs added between August 2020 and August 2022 increased by 48%, while contract vacancies rose by 71%. However, despite the growth in demand for staff since Covid hit the country and the current cost-of-living crisis, average permanent salaries dropped by 8% during the same period.

The data, provided by the global leader in software for the staffing industry, Bullhorn, also shows a similar picture in pre-Covid comparisons, with remuneration dropping 7% between August 2019 and August 2022. This suggests that salaries across the professional recruitment sector haven’t risen despite the record-breaking inflation rates and increased demand for talent, forcing people to look for new roles that offer them a competitive salary or a pay rise that can protect them from the rising cost of living.

Amplified Skills Struggles

The notion that the cost-of-living crisis isn’t inflating salaries is also supported by the latest ONS labor market statistics, which revealed that total pay between May and July 2022 — when adjusted for inflation — fell by 2.6%.

Increasing salaries while our economic stability is being questioned is understandably unlikely to be a priority or even feasible for many businesses, but to see a decline in pre- and post-Covid salaries is worrying. Since 2019, we’ve witnessed a demand for talent on a significant scale and an initial surge in economic activity as restrictions were lifted, but salaries across the professional, highly skilled sectors haven’t risen in line with this. The result is now being felt across the country. With the impact of Brexit also still playing out, this decline in financial incentives for new hires will only have a detrimental impact on the country’s ability to attract the skills needed to bolster the UK’s economy.

In a post-Brexit and Covid-hit economy, the strength of the labor market will be paramount to the UK’s ability to become — and, crucially, remain — a global powerhouse. While the Chancellor’s Mini-Budget demonstrated steps to help bolster the country’s labor market, more will be needed.

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Top Five Mistakes Healthcare Recruiters Make and How to Avoid Them https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/top-five-mistakes-healthcare-recruiters-make-and-how-to-avoid-them/ Wed, 05 Oct 2022 12:00:52 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=10039 In the fast-paced environment of recruiting, even simple or seemingly small mistakes can cost you valuable candidates. Avoid these five common recruiting mistakes to attract more candidates, get them hired and takeRead More...

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In the fast-paced environment of recruiting, even simple or seemingly small mistakes can cost you valuable candidates. Avoid these five common recruiting mistakes to attract more candidates, get them hired and take your healthcare recruiting to the next level.

Not Utilizing Mobile Tactics

Recruiters must be highly adaptable to attract top clinicians. Utilizing mobile tactics and advanced technology like mobile apps, texting and chatbots offers a quicker, more interactive way to communicate with candidates and collect data throughout the process.

We have found that texting has response rates that are 50 times better than email, improving turnaround times and shortening the recruitment process. Mobile tactics like texting enable recruiters to get to know potential future employees and also give candidates room for flexibility by better accommodating busy schedules and allowing clinicians to respond to recruiter messages at their own convenience.

Not Leveraging Social Media

Social media platforms attract massive numbers of users who rely on these platforms for job hunting, making them great places for healthcare recruitment to attract clinicians to open job notices. Most major social media platforms have built-in advanced targeting capabilities that help recruiters reach the right candidates and drive more clinicians to the job listings. Social media is nearly unequaled for targeting specific audiences, yet only 13% of health systems report using it as part of their recruitment efforts.

Facebook groups and LinkedIn are especially popular for building professional networks and sharing healthcare staff openings. These platforms complement traditional recruitment tactics while growing a network of active and passive job seekers.

Leveraging social media is important because it allows recruiters to reach those passive candidates, who aren’t on job boards but might consider a new job if they see the right opportunity. Additionally, passive candidates not looking for new employment often forward interesting job notices to friends who are looking. These instant referrals help recoup paid social media marketing expenses and carry more weight than paid engagements because they come from trusted sources.

PREMIUM CONTENT: Online Job Advertising: 2022 Market Update

Avoiding Pay Transparency

Hiding pay is one of the most common ways recruiters lose the trust of job candidates.

Being transparent about pay and other job perks like benefits and ancillary support services significantly increases ability to attract top talent. Clear salary ranges inform clinicians if a role meets their expectations before they even apply, saving both employers and job seekers time. Pay transparency also helps in recruiting advanced practice professionals by eliminating compensation confusion from the start. Ongoing pay transparency helps retain these essential and highly sought clinicians by building stronger, more trusting and longer-term relationships between employers and employees.

Particularly now, as states ratify pay transparency laws, proactive health systems that embrace pay transparency in their recruitment process will stand out to candidates as organizations who look out for their employees.

Solely Relying on Generic Job Boards to Source Candidates

Traditional job boards like Monster and Indeed have long been the primary platforms to post general job openings. But they aren’t ideal for sourcing healthcare candidates, especially for specialty roles. In addition, many candidates have turned away from these platforms, which can inundate them with poorly matched job offers.

The best way to source healthcare candidates is through healthcare-focused marketplaces. Niche sourcing tools attract active job seekers, uncover passive candidates and streamline the healthcare recruitment process. Some platforms, such as ours at Vivian Health, directly connect recruiters to healthcare specialists to find quality candidates even faster.

Being Unresponsive

Failing to respond quickly to candidates is an easy way to lose them to a competitor. Consistent communication, even just quick check-ins, creates a more personal and positive experience for candidates and lets them know they are a priority.

Transparency, setting reasonable expectations and avoiding making promises that can’t be kept are key. If you say you’ll get back to them on a certain day or at a specific time, always follow through. A little extra effort, and you’ll stand out as a recruiter who’s honest and genuinely cares, which helps you attract a greater number of highly qualified candidates.

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Ten Ways to Reduce Your Candidate Acquisition Costs https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/ten-ways-to-reduce-your-candidate-acquisition-costs/ Mon, 03 Oct 2022 12:00:17 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=10032 New candidates don’t appear out of thin air — finding new prospects requires investment. The amount you invest to attract a potential candidate for a new role is what is known asRead More...

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New candidates don’t appear out of thin air — finding new prospects requires investment. The amount you invest to attract a potential candidate for a new role is what is known as your candidate acquisition cost (CAC). This cost considers how much you spend on your recruitment team, tools and marketing and advertising spends to bring in new candidates.

The problem is when staffing firm owners have no clue of their acquisition costs and, as a result, invest too much into recruitment channels that don’t produce candidates and invest too little into the channels that work. On the flip side, firms that understand these numbers are more profitable and thus grow faster.

A rough calculation to find out that figure is to divide your recruitment outlays by the number of candidates attracted. However, you’re not out of the woods yet. Now that you know your acquisition cost, how do you know if it’s feasible? One way to have an idea is to look at the lifetime profit value, or how much money you’ll make over the average relationship you have with a placed candidate, and decide how much of that figure you’re willing to invest in acquiring another candidate.

Once you determine how much you’re willing to invest to acquire a new candidate and compare that to your current acquisition costs, then and only then can you optimally deploy your marketing dollars and drive down your CAC. Here are 10 ideas you can use within your staffing firm to reduce your costs to acquire candidates and subsequently improve your sales and marketing ROI.

Establish a formal referral program. Using the candidates you’ve already placed is one of the most cost-effective measures to help you find new candidates. For every referral you generate, you’ve cut your cost to acquire the original candidate in half!

Create a loyalty reward program. Loyalty programs help you differentiate, provide tangible value and fuel your word-of-mouth efforts. A program like this aimed at maintaining relationships increases lifetime value and, thus, your lifetime profit.

PREMIUM CONTENT: Online Job Advertising: 2022 Market Update

Optimize your advertising campaigns. By improving ad performance and optimizing your ads, you can eliminate wasted ad spend and allocate those funds towards attracting more candidates without increasing the budget.

Invest in training your recruiters. Implementing a training program can significantly decrease your CAC since any incremental improvement in contact or placement rates will magnify your current results.

Narrow your target audience. Focus your marketing dollars on your ideal candidates as opposed to casting a wide net.

Automate. Utilize sales and marketing automation tools so that your recruiters spend more time on high-value activities instead of menial tasks.

Nurture old or stale leads. You’ve already paid to acquire these candidates that have gone stale. Instead of considering them useless, engage them and see if they’ll reconsider your offerings.

Reduce labor costs/outsource. Keep your investment costs low by outsourcing or bringing on contract workers that execute certain tasks without being on the payroll.

Improve candidate web experience. What’s the point of traffic if it’s not converting? Upgrade your web presence so that more of your visitors find and reach you.

Retarget. Don’t consider web visitors who left your website a lost cause — run retargeting ads that follow them around the internet until they convert.

Wrapping It Up

Reducing the cost of attracting new candidates isn’t always easy, but once you’ve figured out your CAC, try these ideas as a part of your long-term strategy to reduce costs, increase profitability and grow faster than your competitors!

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Five Ways Recruiters Can Maximize Automation https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/five-ways-recruiters-can-maximize-automation/ Thu, 15 Sep 2022 12:00:45 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=10000 With a faltering economy and a tight labor market putting immense pressure on hiring, recruiters are turning to automation to deliver results. Bullhorn’s aggregated data shows that recruitment firms that use automation haveRead More...

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With a faltering economy and a tight labor market putting immense pressure on hiring, recruiters are turning to automation to deliver results. Bullhorn’s aggregated data shows that recruitment firms that use automation have a 64% higher fill rate and submit 33% more candidates per recruiter.

Here are five ways that firms are leveraging automation that you can employ to address today’s challenges.

Leave repetitive tasks to your technology. Automation is great for the simple, repetitive tasks that eat up recruiters’ valuable time. A great starting point for firms considering automation is using it for simple tasks like leaving notes in the applicant tracking system (ATS), creating calendar appointments and sending internal reminders. This frees up time for recruiters to focus on tasks that add real value, such as nurturing client and candidate relationships.

Increasingly intelligent recruitment tools are also capable of more complex tasks, such as recommending candidates for jobs (and jobs for candidates). Tools with artificial intelligence capabilities can review details on candidates in an instant, providing recruiters with valuable recommendations. This is particularly useful for temp or contingent workers, as it can cut redeployment time.

Keep your talent engaged. According to Bullhorn’s recent survey of 2,000 candidates, poor communication is the top reason that talent became frustrated with the recruiting process. The good news is that automation can help. Many of the routine interactions in the recruiting process, such as updating a candidate on their application’s progress, are ideal for automation.

Keeping candidates in the loop without communications feeling robotic depends on a tightly integrated tech stack. The system must be able to collate information from across channels to accurately personalize the messages and deliver them both at the right time and on the right channel.

This technology is also useful for reaching out to candidates at other important points, such as when they are approaching the end of their contract. These interactions maintain a relationship and ensure that the recruiter will be top of mind when the candidate starts looking for a new job.

PREMIUM CONTENT: The US Gig Economy — 2022 Edition

Take the friction out of onboarding. Many recruitment firms are already using automation to fill out paperwork and complete other important onboarding tasks. This is particularly valuable for firms that work with several industries, as the system can automatically account for differing policies on topics like pay, benefits, harassment and more. This same logic applies to firms that work across multiple countries, where employment laws may be different. The result is a fast turnaround and the elimination of potentially costly back-office mistakes.

Declutter your ATS. Manually organizing the ATS is a time-consuming task that frequently winds up at the bottom of the to-do list. However, keeping a recruitment agency’s data in good working order is fundamental to its success.

Streamlining data management is a natural fit for automation. An automated system can comb through records in a fraction of the time it would take a person and identify outdated entries, duplicates, people without contact information and records with no recent activity, all without the risk of human error. It can even update job, company and contract status automatically.

However, this is only possible when data can flow freely between systems, so recruiters must ensure that their ATS is correctly integrated with the other tools and platforms they use before pursuing automation. Further, as with any technology that involves data on people, businesses must be aware of the regulatory restrictions. Most modern automation solutions are compliant with data protection and privacy laws when used properly, but it is a firm’s responsibility to ensure that all processing activities are legal.

Scale your marketing with your business. Reaching out to candidates and clients across channels is another task that is ripe for automation. The technology can automatically personalize the content to ensure that it is relevant and applicable to each audience across different channels like web, mobile, email and social. To target contacts with tailored content, recruiters can define segments and lists for the marketing workflow.

At every step, the system provides in-depth data for recruiters or the sales team to review and refine their approach. Stats to keep an eye on are engagement score, pipeline revenue and the new lead close rate.

Automation isn’t some faraway possibility for the recruitment industry. It’s already helping many recruitment firms to thrive in a challenging environment, and those that haven’t adopted it will quite soon be in the minority.

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Demand for Contractors Surging Amidst Skills Shortages https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/demand-for-contractors-surging-amidst-skills-shortages/ Mon, 05 Sep 2022 08:00:03 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=9980 UK labor shortages have been highly publicized this year, and it looks as though Brexit has been a key contributor to this, with a new report led by academics from Oxford universityRead More...

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UK labor shortages have been highly publicized this year, and it looks as though Brexit has been a key contributor to this, with a new report led by academics from Oxford university finding that industries most reliant on freedom of movement have been hit significantly. Brexit is certainly not entirely to blame though. The early retirement of workers over the age of 50 has also caused significant problems across the UK labor market coupled with Covid-19 recovery. In response to these ongoing shortages, APSCo’s latest data strongly indicates that employers are increasingly relying on the contingent workforce to combat labor shortages.

Permanent Job Numbers Take a Hit

Taking a detailed look into the white-collar jobs market, our latest Recruitment Trends Snapshot report reveals that the contractor recruitment market remains buoyant in light of the ongoing dearth of resources, with vacancies up 2% month on month and 7% between July 2021 and 2022. This increase in contractor demand has translated into positive sales revenue trends for contract placements, which grew 3% between June and July 2022 and 15% annually.

In contrast, permanent job numbers have dropped, down 1% from June to July 2022, also reporting a similar decline annually in July. This decline in permanent demand has impacted both placement numbers and sales revenue for recruiters, which both saw a 7% drop month on month in July.

While this dip in permanent recruitment appears to be marginal, in a market impacted by a cost-of-living crisis, recession fears and a shortage of skills, these figures present a potential indication of economic instability. In fact, when we look at the pre-pandemic comparison, we can see the extent of the drop in permanent recruitment, with vacancies falling 23% between July 2019 and July 2022. In comparison, contractor job numbers rose 13% during this same period, highlighting the extent of the reliance on contingent labor to fill resourcing gaps in the current economy.

PREMIUM CONTENT: MSP RFP Template

Salaries Show No Signs of Inflation Increases

The data, provided by the global leader in software for the staffing industry, Bullhorn, also reveals that perhaps rather concerningly, given the widely talked about cost-of-living crisis, average permanent salaries have fallen 7% year on year, despite July seeing a 10% annual increase in permanent placement numbers. This will no doubt exacerbate the shortage of applications for current roles, further increasing the reliance on the contract market. However, a further worry is that these underwhelming salaries could also lead to a drop in staff retention rates. There have already been reports of sector-wide strikes, with recent plans for an autumn strike by those in the education sector fueled by anger over the government’s below-inflation pay proposal.

An Unsustainable Talent Pipeline

While the reliance on the contractor market to fill resourcing gaps is evident, as Global Public Policy Director Tania Bowers explains, this isn’t a long-term solution: “This reliance on the non-employed segment of the workforce simply isn’t sustainable at a time when the UK’s attractiveness as a destination to work for international contractors is dwindling post-Brexit. And with the impact of Off Payroll still being felt in the temporary recruitment market, the longer-term availability of these resources and the ability to tap into skills in a cost-effective manner is at risk. We urgently need some stability from the government and a clearer direction on the regulation of the employment market to ensure that the UK can manage through the difficult times ahead.”

The data is painting a worrying picture for the UK’s permanent recruitment market at a time of continued instability. We are still seeing the impact of the pandemic play out, but to see such significant spikes in contractor recruitment when comparing pre-pandemic levels with today, while permanent jobs decline, suggests that the country’s skills agenda is balancing on a knife’s edge. Companies are faced with no other choice but to turn to contractors to keep business as usual operations running, but for many, that’s not a sustainable approach. With average permanent salaries also dropping despite the cost-of-living crisis, our economic stability is at stake. While we await the decision around a new prime minister for the country, my hope is that the successful individual prioritizes a solution to the UK’s skills crisis.

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How to Integrate DEIB Into the Hiring Process: Part Two https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/how-to-integrate-deib-into-the-hiring-process-part-two/ Wed, 31 Aug 2022 12:00:21 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=9958 In my last article, I delved into the benefits of promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in your business. Here are seven things to consider as you focus on this initiative:Read More...

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In my last article, I delved into the benefits of promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in your business. Here are seven things to consider as you focus on this initiative:

Your commitment must be ironclad. The biggest decision a company must make to embrace a DEIB practice is, first of all, to decide that diversity is important. That requires the executive team to invest in making it a priority, communicate this to employees and, most importantly, be willing to listen to criticism about where they fall short.

DEIB is not a public relations initiative. It is a direct response to a status quo that has for too long denied diverse employees equal opportunities for employment and growth. Treating it as a marketing ploy, especially when you have not made strides internally, can have disastrous effects. For example, companies who posted social media posts in support of Equal Pay Day learned the hard way when a bot replied to their posts with sobering stats about those companies’ own pay gaps.

Know where your company is on the journey. Companies, especially startups with few employees, mistakenly think they can just look across the office and guess based on appearances. You can probably appreciate why this is a bad idea. The only way to create an accurate picture of a company’s current status is to create a mechanism for employees to anonymously self-report. This can sometimes require a software solution or working with a third-party organization so there is adequate privacy. Once the company has its internal statistics, it should strategize how to announce the results and communicate how it plans to improve.

Prioritize diversity of executives. It may seem like a bit of a catch-22, but it’s hard to recruit a diverse workforce if they don’t see representation at the top. If a company has a homogenized executive team, it will struggle to recruit diverse new hires. A diverse executive team communicates to junior and mid-level employees that career advancement is possible at your company.

Actively seek out reasons to say yes. Build programs that are specifically geared to finding populations that have been excluded. Avoid an overdependence on resumes and AI tools, where job gaps or lack of marquee positions could be a manifestation of inequality. Among the best employees I’ve hired are people whose resumes likely would not pass a filter based on specific experience. But they were intelligent, passionate and driven, and they learned what they did not know coming into the position.

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A diversity chief is not enough. Companies are increasingly hiring DEIB heads to signal their commitment to diversity and inclusion and to create a plan for improvements in this regard. In the right situation and company, it’s an important role. But they need authority, clear support from management and a budget. A word of caution: Employees are increasingly suspicious of what companies say about DEIB. An Edelman study found employees trust their diverse coworkers the most and heads of DEIB the least when it comes to a company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. This is likely due to recent examples of a DEIB head who was not given the resources to make improvements to the diversity of the workforce.

Overcommunicate with absolute honesty. While you encounter candidates that will not work with any company that has not made sufficient strides in DEIB, the majority are likely to join a company that is open about its shortcomings and clear about how it will address them.

If you won’t be honest about DEIB, your employees will. The employees that interview your candidates are likely to be honest about your company’s approach and commitment to DEIB. If you overstate your progress, your employees are likely to correct the record, hurting your chances to make a compelling offer to that candidate.

Ultimately, you cannot fake a commitment to DEIB. The only way to approach it is to decide that it’s important, put in the work to make it a reality, and communicate openly and honestly about what you’ve done and what remains.

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Seven Types of Recruitment Marketing Content Candidates Want to See https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/seven-types-of-recruitment-marketing-content-candidates-want-to-see/ Tue, 23 Aug 2022 12:00:58 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=9962 Finding and recruiting the best talent is every hiring manager’s biggest dream. It’s not always easy to find just the right candidates that could join your team, but there are ways youRead More...

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Finding and recruiting the best talent is every hiring manager’s biggest dream. It’s not always easy to find just the right candidates that could join your team, but there are ways you can attract such candidates through recruitment marketing. Here are seven types of recruitment marketing content candidates want to see from you.

An Infographic About Your Company’s Impact

Infographics are popular thanks to their potential to become viral, and they’re also great for explaining a lot of information in a simplified and concise way. That’s why you can create an infographic on your website that explains your company’s impact, including its achievements, success stories and records. You need to show that your company is an authority and a leader in your niche or industry.

An FAQ With Common Candidate Questions

Creating an FAQ on your website with common candidate questions is a great way to get the attention of candidates interested in working at your company. To save time, you could even use a professional writing service to ghostwrite part of the FAQ for you. Essential questions you should answer include:

  • Experience: What kind of experience do you expect from potential candidates?
  • Expertise: What kind of expertise do you want potential candidates to have?
  • Education: What kind of education do you require? What kind of training do you provide?

A Podcast About Your Customer Success Stories

Podcasting has become quite popular in the past few years, so why not start your own podcast and use it as a part of your recruitment marketing campaign? On your podcast, you can talk about your customer success stories. This way, it will be interesting both for your customers and for potential candidates who want to work for you. Your podcast can also be a way to build a positive brand image for your company. Use popular platforms like YouTube and Spotify to publish your podcast.

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A Virtual 360-Degree or Video Workplace Tour

Thanks to technology, it has become much easier to see what a place looks like without visiting in person. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a virtual 360-degree or video tour of your workplace on your website. If potential candidates see how inviting your office looks, they’ll be more eager to apply.

A Brochure Introducing Your Team

In addition to showing what your workplace looks like, you should also introduce your team via a brochure about yourself and your team members. This is another area in which a professional writing service could be helpful if you don’t have the time to do it yourself. If your team is very big, only introduce your leadership team. You can offer the brochure as a downloadable PDF on your website and print it out to give it to potential candidates at different industry events you attend.

A Slideshow About Diversity and Inclusion

Nowadays, being inclusive and promoting diversity is essential for companies both big and small. Featuring a slideshow on your website about diversity and inclusion in your company is a great way to communicate to potential candidates that your business cares about its employees. It doesn’t have to be a long slideshow, but you need to show that you welcome candidates of all backgrounds and create opportunities for everyone.

A Quiz to Decide How The Candidate Fits In

Last but not least, you can create a piece of lighthearted content on your “Home” or “Careers” page: a quiz to decide how a potential candidate fits into your team. Ask questions about their education, experience and expertise as well as their style of working (e.g. team player vs. independent worker). Then, give them a result about what kind of position they would excel in working in your company.

All in all, finding the best talent is definitely possible if you plan out your recruitment marketing campaign well. Take the tips in this article to decide what kind of content you will create to find the best candidates for your team.

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How to Integrate DEIB Into the Hiring Process: Part One https://phoenixstaffingagency.net/how-to-integrate-deib-into-the-hiring-process-part-one/ Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:00:33 +0000 http://www.thestaffingstream.com/?p=9955 Companies’ commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) is becoming an increasingly important factor in prospective employees deciding where to work. For example, a recent McKinsey study found almost 80% ofRead More...

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Companies’ commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) is becoming an increasingly important factor in prospective employees deciding where to work. For example, a recent McKinsey study found almost 80% of workers said a company’s dedication to DEIB is important to them. Companies that fail to make DEIB a priority will encounter difficulties hiring employees from all walks of life.

And yet, not enough companies are taking DEIB seriously. A recent study of 560 HR leaders found that fewer than one in three companies made DEIB a measurable priority in the past 12 months. And the future is no brighter: 38% of companies plan to make DEIB a measurable priority over the next 12 months, bottom on the list of priorities.

DEIB: A Successful Company’s Superpower

A McKinsey study found executive teams in the top quartile of diversity outperformed in profitability those in the bottom quartile by 25%. Another study published in the Harvard Business Review found companies that create adequate space to hear and champion diverse voices are 45% likelier to report a growing market share and 70% likelier to report they captured a new market.

With evidence that prioritizing DEIB opens companies up to a wider pool of potential employees and can impact the bottom line, it is abundantly clear a majority of companies are making a big mistake by failing to devote resources and attention to improving their standing.

The reality is that all companies, even those with robust DEIB strategies and resources, will continually need to evolve their efforts. Like other major corporate initiatives, there is no end date to DEIB initiatives; they’re ongoing and ever changing. But many companies have not even begun to scratch the surface.

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How Lack of DEIB Focus Plays Out While Hiring

One of GoodTime’s first customers was a Silicon Valley unicorn that lost female-identifying engineers at an unhealthy rate and failed to hire female-identifying replacements, furthering gender inequality in its workforce.

The hiring team had a healthy pipeline of female-identifying engineers, but few accepted offers. The main issue they uncovered was that these candidates mostly interviewed with male-identifying engineers, creating a perception that they would be joining a predominately male team.

DEIB Requires a Comprehensive Effort

Companies that have acknowledged the importance of DEIB and are looking to make it a big priority in the next few years must appreciate that it will take commitment and transparency. Success will not happen overnight.

In the next part of this series, I’ll discuss seven important things to consider as you focus on fostering DEIB in your business.

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