Hiring

March’s episodes of Talk Talent to Me feature a few episodes with a lot of insights. These leaders share ways to spearhead company growth, bridge gaps in talent acquisition, and so much more. 

1. Russell Weaver, SVP of Talent Acquisition at Paramount

Russell is a seasoned talent acquisition professional with years of experience leading recruitment teams across various industries. In this episode, he shares how the shift from linear media to digital media has transformed the industry and what recruitment can learn from outsourcing channels. 

Russell also explains how increased employee engagement results in better outcomes, why more information is better for candidates, and how Paramount plans to leverage AI to create opportunities in recruitment. 

“There is something fundamentally fractured still with [talent acquisition] processes and technology. I think we have to get back to basics  to make sure we are doing things that allow us to connect to that high-performing talent.” 

Listen to the full episode.

2. Doreen Ghafari, VP of People at AllTrails

Doreen shares how she and her team spearheaded a period of significant growth for AllTrails, which resulted in more than quadrupling its staff in just over three years. She also shares the value of making recruiting efforts an extension of the brand experience, why talent acquisition is so much more than putting butts in seats, and the importance of building a solid foundation of systems and processes during periods of hyper-growth. 

Doreen also touches on the benefit of treating values as a core competency, data-driven frameworks for performance evaluation, and what a holistic approach to recruitment looks like.

“AllTrails is a beloved brand. People tend to have delightful experiences with the app and the site. We wanted our recruiting efforts to be an extension of that. We want people who come to AllTrails to interview, even if they don’t get the job, to reflect fondly on their experience.” 

Listen to the full episode.

Want more insights into recruiting tips and trends?

Tune into Hired’s podcast, Talk Talent to Me, to learn about the strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry—straight from top experts themselves. More

Leading the way to streamlined & people-focused processes

AI is more than just an ongoing buzzword. It’s the future of HR. We’re seeing more and more talent pros incorporate AI into their recruiting processes. But can it truly lead to more human-centric recruitment and hiring? Yes, it can.

Our partner Teamtailor agrees, adding, “This shift reflects a widespread recognition of AI’s power to optimize HR metrics and streamline hiring tasks like resume summarization, interview question creation, and job description crafting. This transformative impact is prompting a strategic rethink of talent acquisition.” 

This efficiency will, in turn, allow talent pros to get more strategic and focus on what matters most – building relationships with top talent. 

Related: How to Use AI in Recruitment: Insights from Activision Blizzard’s Talent Sourcing Director

Hired predicts AI will free up HR to focus on ‘human’ aspects of their role.

“While industries like marketing, sales, and finance have undergone a profound evolution from AI over the past few years, the recruiting sector has only recently begun to recognize the advantages it brings to areas such as recruiting, onboarding, and employee monitoring, “ says Jon Dobrowolski, Hired VP of Product. 

Related: Hired Conducts AI Audit to Ensure Bias-Free Hiring 

“As organizations tighten their focus on cost reduction and strategic growth in the coming year, they will entrust activities such as sourcing talent entirely to AI to surface the best candidates– freeing up valuable time for HR professionals to upskill in understanding how AI can ‘co-pilot’ alongside them, and truly focus on the strategies and initiatives that improve the employee experience. 

This could include paving possible career paths for people in an organization, boosting employee recognition/morale, and implementing new benefits and ways to cultivate a positive workplace.”

Karen Weeks, Chief People Officer at Obviously on Hired’s podcast, Talk Talent to Me

“AI will push us to nurture and build relationships within our networks more honestly and authentically. AI may streamline some processes or tasks but we’ll see a renewed focus on relationship-building as a major point of difference in recruiting and hiring.”

Listen to the full episode.

Related: AI in HR, People-Centered Approaches, & More: Talk Talent to Me October ’23 Recap  

AI and candidate experience 

In Hired’s webinar, Bold Predictions & Benchmarks: Master Tech Hiring in 2024, Collective Health’s Director of Talent and Recruitment, Dana Dillard emphasized human-centric recruitment as essential. 

“There needs to be a balance in how we operate going forward. Many of us are working with much leaner teams. We have a lot fewer folks on our teams and a lot fewer resources. So we do need to think about how to work smarter, not harder.” 

She explained how her team uses AI from an efficiency standpoint to enhance the candidate experience. “We supplement sourcing strategies, get ideas of how to write boolean strings or search strings, and consider positioning language to attract candidates.” 

On the Hired platform, AI is used to create a more personalized and engaging candidate journey through the power of real-time feedback. In a typical job (or talent) search, job postings get hundreds of applicants, with 80+% being a complete mismatch. This is bad for productivity and a poor use of each party’s time. 

Conversely, candidates who sign up for Hired find out whether they are a good match for opportunities on the platform and get feedback on how to improve their profile. Transparency in salary ranges and expectations plus comprehensive profiles help make the process more efficient.

Candidate preferences are forward-looking and drive more sophisticated matching. This saves candidates significant time and changes an often tedious and demoralizing experience.

The intersection of AI, skills gaps, and talent availability

In the way that computers and word processing technology tools rapidly became a standard in nearly every workplace in past decades, our partner Workable believes AI will do the same. According to Workable’s Senior Content Strategy Manager Keith MacKenzie, “While the way we use it continues to be in flux, we’re entering an era where knowing how to use some form of AI technologies will be a normal expectation of any candidate’s skill set regardless of the industry they’re in. 

The rapid evolution of AI has opened up numerous skills and competency gaps through the system as companies rush to incorporate AI technologies into their workflows. Meanwhile, those who build that technology will continue to be in high demand – which means the availability of talent is a major concern, especially for tech companies.”

Getting started with using AI to support human-centric recruitment 

Thinking about incorporating AI into your workflow? We encourage you to embrace the change and welcome AI as the ultimate enablement tool to do more with less. Consider it your partner, not your replacement!

In a past webinar, The State of h(AI)ring – buzzword or boon for HR?, Jon Dobrowolski advised leaders on getting started with AI. He says, “With any technology implementation, you have to focus on the outcomes and driving enablement. There are goals, strategy, and KPIs. If it helps you achieve against those, you should keep it. If it is interesting but not necessarily moving the needle, you don’t want to keep it around for long.” 

Tools to support human-centric recruitment 

With that said, many HR and recruiting tools have AI built right in. Hired is one such offering—AI and machine learning have been ingrained in the product from the start. From candidate vetting and ranking to personalized recommendations and general experience improvements. More recently we’ve incorporated generative AI into both the candidate and employer experiences.

We also appreciate like-minded companies bringing AI-led solutions to market to make recruiters’ jobs easier, clearing a path for more thoughtful work. 

Our friends at Teamable, the supercharged Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) solution, incorporate AI at almost every touch. It uses AI to power inbound applicant ranking and personalized messaging at scale. Time-saving solutions like this give recruiting teams hours back in their day for those 1:1 human-centric recruitment connections that make the work meaningful.

Going back to Jon’s advice, he encourages talent pros to be intentional. He advises against using AI for the sake of having it. Instead, he recommends, “Take the time right now to form an educated opinion on what will be helpful and begin to ideate. As you do, tools will come to market and you’ll feel that’s exactly what you were looking for.”

Related: ChatGPT in Recruitment: How to Unlock its Power, Increase Efficiency  More

What the data says, where the pitfalls are, and how to address damage from layoffs when hiring Boomerangs

Seeing good employees leave is tough, whether it’s through resignations or layoffs. Seeing good employees return through boomerang hiring, is ideal. Unfortunately, many of the layoffs we’ve seen recently were not handled with care. So the odds of getting those boomerang employees back when it’s time to ramp up hiring again are lower than some organizations may assume.

Keep reading for the data we uncovered on layoffs and rehiring, plus advice on how to promote a positive employer band and communicate transparently with candidates.   

What are boomerang employees?

Boomerang employees are individuals who leave a company for some time but later return to work for the same organization again. Perhaps other opportunities were not a good fit or they are enticed by the company’s new direction. Sometimes it’s through an acquisition or merger, or a former employee is purposefully recruited to lead a new project or vertical. 

Hired predicts boomerang hiring of laid-off workers is an unreliable 2024 recruitment strategy.

In late 2023, Hired surveyed 1000+ tech workers and 250+ tech employers. More than 50% plan to increase their headcount budget in 2024. 

While 68% of tech employers say they’d feel confident re-hiring employees laid off from their companies, only 15% of currently unemployed tech workers say they “would definitely accept” a job offer from an employer who’d laid them off. That’s a pretty low number for people likely looking for work.

Data also showed that 36% of laid-off unemployed tech workers would decline a job offer from the company that released them. Meanwhile, 44% said they would accept. (The rest are undecided).

Those currently employed are less forgiving. The survey revealed that 46% of laid-off employed tech workers would decline a job offer from their former company while only 27% said they would accept.

Related: Cost of Vacancy: Why Hiring During Downturns is a Good Idea 

Hired’s CEO on companies planning on boomerang hiring

In a recent Talk Talent to Me episode, Hired CEO Josh Brenner discussed layoffs and companies pursuing boomerang employees. He says, “There are a lot of benefits to boomerang hiring of employees. They’re vetted in the sense that you’ve already made the decision once to hire them. They clearly have a value fit with the company and were a strong contributor to the team. There’s obviously a lot less ramping up needed to get them back into the company. 

I understand why companies would be excited about having people back. I know a lot of companies across the board had to make extremely tough decisions when making these cuts.”

Even so, Josh explains how trust is a key connection talent has to companies. Josh believes the companies that handled layoffs with care will “have a much easier time hiring those boomerangs back. They live the values they talk about as a company.” 

Related: 2023 List of Top Employers Winning Tech Talent

However, he’s observed more often than not that employers did not do right by employees when making job cuts. “The companies that handled those layoffs poorly will have a very small chance of getting any of those employees back. 

They have their challenges cut out for them. Not only are they not going to be able to get the boomerang employees back, but they really need to focus on their recruiting efforts.

Because those companies now have employer branding issues. People talk, use social media, and check company review sites like Glassdoor and Blind. Talent teams now have a hard job within those companies to rebuild trust with jobseekers.” 

Empathy in talent acquisition

Echoing Josh’s sentiment of being responsible when laying off employees, Interviewology founder Anna Papalia shared advice for TA teams in a past episode of Talk Talent to Me:

“[TA teams] also going through layoffs and at a moment’s notice could be on the other side of the table interviewing. And with that comes, I hope, a great deal of empathy. Asking themselves, ‘How am I treating candidates and applicants right now? How would I want to be treated if I was going through this process? 

Because looking for a job can be dehumanizing. It can feel so uncertain and it’s incredibly stressful. And as talent folks, we tend to forget the power we wield and just how difficult it is to be on the other side.”

Related: Your Guide to Build Sustainable Tech Talent Acquisition Strategy 

Boost success with employer branding 

In a tough market and amid the threat of layoffs, brand reputation may become fragile. So what can teams do to boost employer branding efforts and uphold a positive reputation? 

In Hired’s survey, “an emphasis on employer branding” was the top answer when we asked small and medium-sized employers what they planned to increase in their hiring strategy for 2024. Employers with 10K+ employees listed it second, behind (tie) “employee referral programs” and “offers of competitive compensation and benefits.” 

So, this is the time to showcase your company’s authenticity and how it lives its values. Hired supports employers by creating turnkey events to empower company recruitment efforts. 

Get your team in front of tech talent

Chase partnered with Hired to host a Virtual Candidate Event aiming to attract Backend, Frontend, and Cloud Engineers in the UK. The event proved to be a powerful way to promote the company’s brand and engineering culture. Within 24 hours, Chase invited 9 candidates on site! 

Reflecting on the event’s impact, TA Lead Mike Lewis said, “I thought it balanced really well between the tech story and how we are real people.” 

See how Hired helped Bark and Wayfair promote their tech teams to talent with similar Virtual Candidate Events.

Related: Looking for more employer branding ideas? Download 8 Ways to Hire Faster & Build a Better Employer Brand: TA Leaders Tell Us. 

A healthy pipeline benefits from a CRM

Bolster larger employer branding activations with regular communications to talent already engaged with your company. A CRM is a great way to manage this, and many these days have innovative features to help streamline your efforts. 

Teamable is one of our favorites here at Hired. They integrate with your ATS to keep records enriched and up-to-date based on publically available data and use AI to personalize automated messages at scale. Keeping past talent engaged will make it more effective to source from this pool for future hiring needs. 

Rebuild trust and communicate growth potential to candidates

In Hired’s survey, 41% of employers who’d had layoffs within the last two years agreed layoffs had hurt their company more than the economy. 

Communication is key to supporting a positive employer brand and fostering trust during layoffs. In a recent webinar, Bold Predictions & Benchmarks: Master Tech Hiring in 2024, Hired’s SVP of People Strategy, Sam Friedman explained how employers effectively communicate with candidates.

“Candidates are coming in with more research and more questions than ever before. Recruitment teams need to be prepared.”

Sam even recommends having some bullet points ready. “I always tell people not to give a wrong answer, just to give an answer. If you have to get back to someone, that’s okay. But you should be prepared for that question and you should prepare your interview teams as well.”

She explains it all comes down to being open and honest about the company’s health. “Why did this happen? Was it performance-based? Is it something around a miscalculation and strategy, or was it a pivot? Make sure there is consistent messaging and leadership visibility. 

Then, hopefully, you’ll be able to highlight financial stability. If you’re not at the financial stability, then perhaps it’s visibility into the strategic roadmap and how you’re going to get there. Make sure you are highlighting the industry or market environments as well.” 

Over 60% of tech workers surveyed by Hired said they plan to get a new job in 2024 due to concerns about the future of their role, team, or company. Are your top employees among them? Or, are you prepared to recruit them to your team?

Transparency and authenticity are your friends here. Hiring teams need to acknowledge the layoff, explain how the company is working through it, and share how it will move forward. It’s key to giving candidates confidence in the organization. More

Listen in on February 2024 episodes of Hired’s Talk Talent to Me podcast for insights into:

Being an HR visionary with Lorraine Ortiz, First Internet Bank Chief People Officer Lorraine Ortiz

Early-stage recruiting with Jamie Sterrett, Primary Ventures VP Talent 

“Human energy” in HR with Julie Flowers, Chevron Director of HR & Talent Development 

1. Lorraine Ortiz, Chief People Officer at First Internet Bank

In this episode, Lorraine dives into staying comfortable versus trying something new, what she loves about HR and the recent developments in the industry, and why being future-ready is among her top priorities. She also discusses how to cultivate resilience in the workplace and create a culture that facilitates constructive conversations.

Listen to the full episode.

2. Jamie Sterett, VP of Talent at Primary Ventures 

Jamie offers insight into what it takes to be an early-stage recruiter, how talent professionals can level up the entire function of a business, and when companies should consider bringing on a full-time in-house talent resource. 

“Early-stage recruiting is not for everyone. When you are the first recruiter somewhere, you are wearing all of the hats.”

Listen to the full episode.

3. Julie Flowers, Director of HR & Talent Development at Chevron

The performance of any organization is unquestionably linked to its ability to tap into the “human energy” encapsulated in the talents, approach, and potential of every team member. In this episode, Julie shares pearls of wisdom from her 26 years with Chevron and offers insight into how the technology, high standards, and ethics at Chevron appeal to Gen Z candidates. She discusses how talent development boosts morale and improves company culture and why she believes HR is the human energy in progress that leads to success.

“As a leader, I need to [encourage, support, and reward]. As an employee, I’ve got to want to learn and grow. As a company, I’ve got to show that we’re building that type of culture. [Continuous development] takes all three of those things.” 

Listen to the full episode.

Want more insights into recruiting tips and trends?

Tune into Hired’s podcast, Talk Talent to Me, to learn about the strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry—straight from top experts themselves. More