Although the way many of us work has shifted into WFH mode, it doesn’t mean things are at a standstill. Many companies are ramping up their hiring as they look forward and plan for their future growth and development. If you are among them, it means that once you’ve identified the right person for a new position or to fill an existing one, you have to figure out how you’re going to onboard your new hires remotely. You want them to get to know their colleagues and understand your work culture. While you can’t take them to lunch and their introduction to their new team is virtual, you still need to ensure that they feel valued and supported.

“We have always recognized that onboarding is a critical component of employee retention,” says Nancy Halverson, SVP Global Operations at MRINetwork. “Our methodology includes guiding our clients through the entire hiring process, which means that we don’t consider the search complete until our clients’ new hires are successfully onboarded.”

Halverson recognizes that onboarding today is a little more challenging, but she says, “The principles are the same. It simply requires a different approach. Many of the best practices that we’ve honed over the years are still applicable, such as creating an onboarding packet.” She advises that this should include expectations for the first two weeks, a list of tools, links, and systems and direction on how to access them, internal/external contact information for any issues that may arise, colleague contact information, and an organizational chart.

What has become an imperative in today’s work landscape is the need for a clear digital strategy. “Many people are struggling to adapt to WFH,” says Halverson, “and employers have to provide the digital tools needed to get along and work efficiently with team members, collaborate on projects, and boost output. These should be in place and ready to access for every new employee.”

What are the most important areas you need to consider?

Communication. “Slack, for example, is a software application that brings team members and interactions together,” says Halverson. “Companies are using it increasingly because it provides seamless communication between team members, departments and the entire organization, but there are many other good alternatives such as Google Hangout, Microsoft Teams, Flock, Mattermost and Wire.”

Videoconferencing. The Zoom app seems to have soared to the top of the preferred list, even making great strides in the stock market. “Anybody can use it from anywhere,” notes Halverson, “and videoconferencing replicates face-to-face meetings by showing the facial expressions and body language of the participants.” Alternatives include among others GoToMeeting and Google Meet.

Project management. Evernote is a popular project management and productivity tool because it works on all platforms, including smartphones and tablets, and allows users to quickly sync notes and files among devices. Alternatives such as Google Sheets and Basecamp can also help you to create daily, monthly, or yearly to-do-lists and assign tasks to your entire team.

Halverson believes that companies will continue to rely heavily on digital tools after the crisis has passed. “Use this time to discover which tools work best for your people, your business and your organization,” she advises. “Observe how your new employees respond and adapt to your culture and learn from it. Seize this opportunity to embrace the new world of work.”

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to decimate the world, those in human resources must tailor the way they conduct the interview process for job candidates. Instead of a phone screen or phone interview to start recruiting followed by in-person interviews, candidates should expect it all to be conducted virtually.

For employers making hires during this uncertain period, here are some tips for interviewing candidates remotely and finding the strongest talent possible during these trying times:

First, make sure you have the correct technology to do the interview via audio or video (whichever is preferred by your organization). This means that you have software such as Zoom, Skype or other resources downloaded to your computer and that you’ve communicated effectively with the job candidate about when and where to access it for the interview. To do this, you should test the applications ahead of time to ensure you’re using a service that’s high-quality and that will allow you and the candidate to connect without distraction.

Second, it’s important to be in the right mindset for a job interview conducted remotely. Namely, you should treat it like any other interview that’s in-person to as much extent as possible. Yes, these are tough circumstances globally, but it’ll also help to shift your mentality to one of normalcy in order to have a satisfactory outcome for both yourself and the candidate.

To this end, try and have a goal in mind for the interviews conducted remotely. According to Forbes, this is crucial for a successful interview. “The overall goal of the interview is to find the right person for the position. So, before drafting any questions, it helps to expressly define the right person for the position, which will also help you prepare an accurate job description. Prepare a list of qualities you want in an ideal job candidate and ask questions that essentially answer whether or not the person you’re speaking with on the phone or via video conversation has any or all of them.

Finally, it’s key that you have the proper set-up in your home for interviews. While children are home from school for the foreseeable future, it may be difficult to have total peace and quiet during this important process. And that’s okay (you may just want to give the person you’re hiring a heads-up so they’re not thrown off in any way). As long as you find a corner of your house or an office where you can take and conduct calls, you can make this arrangement work.

The coronavirus pandemic requires us all to make sacrifices and change the way we hire talent. By being as prepared as possible through technology choices, having goals in mind for each call, and creating the proper home office setup, you’ll find the best talent for your organization no matter what.

These days, everyone has multiple social media accounts that they use to keep in touch with friends, illustrate their career goals and more. As a recruiter or an organization looking for the best talent, therefore, it’s important that you use and evaluate social media profiles to learn about your prospective employees. After all, this information can be critical to finding A-list workers for your firm.

“But it's not just about checking a candidate's timeline for angry rants or questionable photos — social platforms can also be a great recruiting tool,” as noted by Forbes. "According to Betterteam, nearly 95% of recruiters use social media to post and promote job openings, and 59% of employees say they chose their current workplace in part because of the company's social media presence.”

Here are ways you can effectively use social media to learn about candidates:

First, you can learn more about candidate behavior. “The popularity of social media continues to grow both in personal and professional use, with a lot of the content staying around forever,” according to the publication. “Use social media platforms as both a medium for checking potential hires' past post types and quality (for instance, have they posted anything that could harm your brand?), as well as finding fresh writing samples.”

Taking a look through a candidate’s social media can also unlock a lot about the individual’s personality. “Segmenting potential employees not only by their expertise but also by their personality traits is very important when recruiting creative roles,” according to Forbes. Therefore, you may want to examine candidate personalities through their profiles to gain this type of insight. “We've used social media targeting tools to find different archetypes for a more comprehensive recruiting process,” observed Carlos Machicao of Wild Pixel Media to Forbes.

Finally, you can use social media as a way to connect with potential workers and see who is truly excited to be part of your organization. “It's important for us to see a potential hire engaging with our company or industry on social media. Rather than asking, ‘Are you familiar with our clients?’ we can know if they did their research and if they ‘like’ our clients by seeing if they've engaged online or not,” as noted by Jennifer Wentzo in an interview with Forbes.

In sum, social media will forever be an important aspect of the hiring process for organizations. By analyzing candidates’ profiles without being invasive, you can glean info on their behavior, personality traits and much more.

Trend to Watch: Increased Focus on Performance Management

The year 2020 will mark fierce competition among employers who want to hire and, more importantly, retain the best talent at their organizations. After all, unemployment in the U.S. is hovering at near-historic lows, with the most recent Employment Situation report from by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics illustrating that the unemployment rate within the executive, managerial and professional labor market was just 3.3 percent.

“In 2020, companies will want to ensure their performance reviews are specific, frequent, tied to relevant work and are as practical as possible,” says Annette Wehrli, director of leadership and organizational effectiveness for MRINetwork. “This helps both the organization and employees have candid conversations about progress, development and goal achievement.”

For decades, the prevailing wisdom has been that a big annual review at the end of the year is enough to let employees know how they're doing. However, this is no longer true - employees are demanding more frequent and detailed feedback on their work, and managers are responding by making their review practices more flexible and engaging. If your company hasn't updated its performance review practices, it runs the risk of losing top talent to companies that build feedback into their regular business functions from week to week. Also, you'll miss out on the valuable chance to identify and develop employees' professional skill sets.

With 2020 just around the corner, here are some tips to revise your company’s performance review practices in order to succeed for the coming years:

1. Make performance reviews an ongoing conversation

The first step to ensuring employees are poised for success is to move the performance review from the annual model to one that’s more of an ongoing conversation. Instead of saving comments for the annual review, find ways to provide feedback and discuss priorities with employees on a regular basis. You could hold biweekly, one-on-one check-ins with employees, discuss goals or accomplishments at the beginning or end of each quarter or provide opportunities for group discussions at weekly team meetings.

According to Forbes, this will change these previously dreaded discussions to welcomed, productive dialogue, resulting in more actionable successes. “Before making the change at your company, put a specific plan in place. Meetings can be less formal but should still have a clear framework, including benchmarks and opportunities for setting goals,” according to the publication. “The focus should also shift from year-over-year progress to continuous personal growth, setting the cultural precedent that employees are rewarded for growing and learning, not just annually.”

2. Embrace offering employees a career path at your organization

Career pathing is a comprehensive process in which managers partner with employees in taking an honest look at their career goals, skills, education, experience and personal characteristics. A plan is developed for achieving what is necessary in each of these areas in order for the employee to advance within the company, providing both employees and employers with a clear understanding of what it will take for workers to move from their current position to where they want to be. Through this process, employees are empowered to take ownership of their career performance and to align their career goals with the strategic goals of the organization.  Career pathing essentially helps companies retain top performing staff by showing them a personalized pathway to advancement.

“By showing employees a tangible, achievable path to growth within your company, you increase the likelihood of improving employee engagement, which leads to greater productivity, happier workers and less attrition, says Wehrli.”

To do this, it’s important to reserve time during more regularly-scheduled performance review sessions to sit down and learn about the employee's professional aspirations at the company. Then, you should put together a tangible plan for helping the employee reach these goals in a timely and proactive manner.

3. Make transparency and feedback a part of your culture

The performance review, historically, has been thought of as a one-way street. Managers are giving employees their review and it ends at that. However, this is an antiquated approach to performance management. Instead, your company should seek to foster a culture of transparency and feedback for all.

Reviews that benefit both employee and employer are based on honest, open communication, and this is only possible when there is a culture of workplace transparency. Employees should feel comfortable expressing their concerns, and criticism should be communicated in a way that is constructive. In addition to being able to offer feedback to managers, the performance review should also include feedback from fellow colleagues and others at the organization (not just one manager).

According to Forbes, “One review from one manager doesn’t really paint a full picture of an employee’s holistic performance. The review process should involve the peers they work with every day and at least one direct report, when applicable.”

4. Make sure that performance reviews are fair

Too often, employees can discount a manager’s review of their work as simply opinion. That is especially the case if the review goes poorly. The benchmarks employees are judged against should be realistic and fair instead of nebulous and entirely subjective.

“Managers and employees should work together to establish metrics for success, so that once reviews occur, there’s an objective way to discuss and evaluate performance,” says Wehrli. “By doing this, the employee is likely to be more open and receptive to their manager’s feedback, and be more involved and motivated to succeed within your organization.”

In conclusion, 2020 is the year in which drastically changing your performance review process is essential for your company’s continued success. With unemployment so low and companies fighting for the best talent to bring to their organizations, you must do your best to enhance your performance management process to retain employees and set them up for success.

When hiring for an open role, experience isn't everything. In fact, it should only be part of the reason you bring someone to your company. There are many other qualities that will enable employees to thrive and provide value to your organization, and it's important to evaluate candidates on these attributes as well.

Therefore, it's important to be able to properly assess candidates during the interview process, especially those who may not have much experience in your company's industry, but who have transferrable skills that can allow them to shine at your company.

Here are some tips to help determine how to effectively evaluate candidates on these skills:

Closely examine the applicant's resume and cover letter for examples of transferrable skills to your industry. Since the person is looking to make a somewhat drastic career change, they should answer why they're looking to do so in their application materials. If they're able to effectively communicate this, you'll feel more confident about their prospects at your organization and more likely to move them forward in the interview process.

Consider pre-screening the candidate through a test or a real assignment. According to SHRM, such an assessment can be highly important. The purpose of employee testing is to help the employer predict how well an individual will perform on the job. Hiring the wrong people can be expensive, and selection errors can have a negative impact on employee morale and management time, waste valuable training and development dollars, and reduce employee productivity and a company's profitability, according to the organization.

You can test the candidate through written assessments, by asking the person to put together a presentation or even work on a mock project and share how they'd go about performing the task. By doing this, you'll have a much stronger idea of how they'd do on the job even without the typical industry experience required.

Gauge the applicant's enthusiasm during the interview process. Enthusiastic employees are engaged employees. When workers are excited about the job functions they serve, they're more likely to perform well because they're eager to learn, improve and achieve results. Try to spot evidence of potential workers' passion for previous work, as well as for the job to which they're applying.

One specific way you can assess this is to conduct a phone screen or in-person interview in which you ask direct questions about a candidate's accomplishments. Depending on how they respond, you'll get a sense for their confidence level, their self-belief, and just how excited they are at the prospect of transferring those experiences to the open position at your company.

In conclusion, while experience is important when finding strong candidates to hire, there are other skills and abilities that can make up for a lack of specific industry experience. By closely examining resumes and cover letters, conducting an assessment and gauging enthusiasm you'll have a strong handle on a candidate's ability to succeed at your company.

National unemployment remains at record lows, especially in the executive, managerial and professional labor market. In fact, unemployment in this sector has been hovering around 3.3% most recently, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. As a result, many businesses are struggling to find the best talent, with the necessary skills for their open roles.

If your organization is struggling to find top talent in this tight labor market, here are some strategies you can follow:

Consider expanding your criteria for the ideal employee. Cast a wider net of candidates. Instead of looking for only people with a very specific background or special training, it's important to widen your search when hiring during a difficult labor market with low unemployment.

"In a tight job market like this one, it's important to be flexible with the required background and expertise you'd like candidates to have," says Simone Mazzeo, program manager of talent at-traction for MRINetwork. "Instead, also consider people who may have the skills from another sector that can apply well to the job at hand. You'd be surprised at just how effective these employees can be."

For instance, someone can have an exceptional educational and work background in your precise industry sector, but still fail at your organization if they aren't a good cultural fit, or if they don't share your core values. Therefore, you need to factor in the type of person who will fit in among your employees the mentality they need to thrive, and the interpersonal skills, perhaps not listed on their resume, that will help them become part of the team.

Notably, many employers feel that hiring a candidate with transferable skills are a strong way to hire. According to the 2018 MRINetwork Performance Management Study, nearly 80 percent of the employers surveyed, somewhat agree or strongly agree that finding quality, industry-experienced talent is more difficult than ever, and that their companies are more likely to hire people who have transferable skills, but lack industry experience.

By considering those with transferable skills, you can significantly expand the number of applicants and focus on harder to define skills, such as cultural fit, ability to work with teams and communication ability, which might be just as important for the role, but are much harder to learn than specific, technical skills. As a result, you'll find yourself interviewing candidates who may not fit a traditional hiring profile, but who instead can thrive at your firm with some industry-specific training.

To cast this wider net, you should focus on the job descriptions you post for every open role. After you draft them, revisit the requirements to determine if they're all absolutely needed. For ex-ample, you may realize that some of the technical skills or professional requirements are simply nice to haves, but not truly essential to the worker's success at your company. If that's the case, don't make them absolutes and you'll find yourself with more candidates for your open roles.

Increase the types of perks and benefits you offer candidates to entice them to accept your job offer (once you get to that stage in the hiring process). When you're facing an especially tight labor market, any little edge over your competition such as sign-on bonuses or benefits can impress and get a candidate to choose your company over a competitor.

"Ensuring your company has benefits that fit the needs of the next generation workforce is one of the most important things you can do to set your organization up for success," according to Forbes.

Some perks you may want to consider adding to your organization include:

-Relocation assistance: If a candidate is looking to move to join your firm, you can offer to help pay some of the costs, including flights, moving costs, and even rent.

-A monetary sign-on bonus: This can be an attractive way to get strong talent to you firm as it'll show that your company truly respects a person's experience - and is willing to put money down to prove it.

-Helping employees pay off student loans: With student loan debt the highest it's ever been, employees can truly benefit from this perk. This will illustrate a desire by your or-ganization to support workers' lifestyle needs and their education.

-Paid days off (PDO): Potential candidates want to ask about PDO, but don't want to appear overly interested in time off, in comparison to the responsibilities of the job. However, they do want to know their hard work is recognized with the ability to take time off. They especially appreciate their birthday as an additional day off. Take the awkwardness out of these conversations by pro-actively discussing your vacation and paid time off policies with applicants.

-Gym membership and other health benefits: Work-life balance is an important part of any job. Candidates will appreciate a company that wants to take care of them not only financially, but physically as well.

"By presenting these types of perks, you'll provide candidates with even more reasons to accept an offer with your organization," says Mazzeo. "Candidates will see that the company culture focuses on the well-being and happiness of its employees, and this can be a great attribute that both attracts new hires and retains people for years to come."

Plus, as Forbes notes, these types of benefits will be especially attractive to millennial employees. "Companies that offer these benefits will attract and retain the best talent and prevent significant turnover costs as well," according to the publication.

In sum, applicants have numerous options in a tight job market, so it is imperative that the way your organization approaches them and the advantages that are offered give candidates every reason to want to join your company.

You think you've found the perfect candidate to fill an open role at your organization. After reviewing their resume, conducting rounds of interviews with your recruiter, hiring manager and company leadership, you've made an offer. You've even checked the candidate's references and completed salary negations with the person. Everything looks like it's going well and that the candidate is about to accept the offer... That is, until they don't.

You're surprised and disappointed by the rejection. While the candidate gives a valid reason as to why he/she can't accept the role at your company, you're still upset. But instead of letting it get to you and your human resources organization, you must bounce back and learn from the experience so that you can grow as a business.

"Making an offer to a candidate, only to have it rejected, is always difficult." says Simone Mazzeo, program manager of talent attraction for MRINetwork. "This is especially the case if you don't have a second applicant who can fill the role. Instead of placing all the blame on the candidate that rejected your offer, use the experience as a powerful learning tool. You and your firm need to carefully analyze what happened so you can avoid such a fate in the future."

Here are some tips to help you move forward after a top candidate rejects your offer:

1. Revisit your interviewing process as a firm. If a candidate rejects your offer, it might be because they did not have a good experience during the interview process. Maybe one of the interviewers failed to impress or didn't adequately answer the candidate's concerns. Or it could be that the interview process was extremely grueling and left a bad taste in the person's mouth. Then, when it came time to think through the offer, they simply didn't feel comfortable accepting.

To help, you should assemble company leadership to determine how you handle job interviews. That way you, recruiters and hiring managers are on the same page when it comes to language you use when meeting candidates, the types of questions you ask, and, maybe most importantly, the way you describe the company in order to woo top talent.

"Get together with key stakeholders during your interview process," says Mazzeo. "This is absolutely critical if you want to make offers to top talent and have them accept. You need to come across as a united front and inspire people to want to join your firm. That means you must hold their interest. Are you asking them what their interest level is in each step of the process? Otherwise, you'll lose out on people who can help your business succeed."

2. Determine if you have an employer branding issue. A lack of compelling employer branding or a sense of the brand experience is another reason a top candidate might reject your offer. For instance, a candidate may not feel excited about what your organization has to offer them. Maybe during the interview process, they didn't see the potential for career growth. Or the company felt antiquated and not a good fit for their personality. If your organization feels stale, unappealing or otherwise not exciting, then it's likely a candidate will simply reject your offer without a second thought.

To address this, you need to ensure the company has a solid social media presence, consistent media coverage, and the company website and marketing materials are updated. This will provide the "wow factor" for prospective candidates from the very beginning, enabling the organization to inspire interviewees with specific examples of a strong company culture, growth opportunities, and a highly professional interview process.

Finally, here are signs that a candidate will reject your offer:

1. The candidate is obsessed with compensation from the very beginning of the process.

2. The candidate is not jumping on the next steps in the process quickly

3. The candidate only has canned questions to ask during interviews.

4. The candidate doesn't seem enthusiastic about the final offer and takes too long to come back to you with an answer

"You want to make an offer to the best candidate," says Mazzeo. "That begins with the first interview. Ensure you are uncovering the candidate's reasons for the search, must haves and nice to haves in their next position. Look out for some of these warning signs throughout the interview process and make sure your hiring team is talking constantly and giving feedback to one another. Not only will this weed out weaker candidates, it'll also help you face less rejections from seemingly strong contenders."

In sum, while a rejected job offer can throw a damper on a critical position you need to fill, there are several actions you and other on the hiring team can take to lessen the chances of this happening. By bolstering your interviewing process and employer branding initiatives, as well as simply looking out for red flags, you'll make offers to stronger candidates who won't leave you scrambling to fill open roles at your organization.

When it comes to interviewing, there is often the assumption that hiring managers know how to interview candidates in a meaningful way that provides clarity around applicants' experience and overall fit with open roles. However, depending on their experience interviewing, managers can be just as nervous as candidates. After all, hiring managers are human too. That's why it's important for new or inexperienced managers to be very well prepared to avoid any possible jitters.

"If you're a manager who's new to hiring or simply someone who doesn't shine in a high-pressure interview setting, there are measure you can take to feel more at ease," says Simone Mazzeo, program manager of talent attraction for MRINetwork. "From meditating ahead of time to making sure you're highly prepared by reading through the candidate's resume and cover letter, there's much you can do to feel more confident."

Here are some tips managers new to interviewing can follow:

1. Preparation is key. It's not surprising that doing your homework can pay off when you're in a high-pressure situation. That's definitely true for an interview that you're conducting. One keyway to prepare for the interview you're about to conduct is to gain a deep understanding of the person's job experience by reading and re-reading the person's resume, LinkedIn profile and cover letter.

Also, try drafting some questions you want to ask before the interview so that you have an idea about what you want to ask. You can even jot down notes on a copy of the person's resume to help.

2. Get coaching from your preferred talent partner. If you want to really ensure you're never nervous for a job interview again, simply ask for help from an expert. Recruiters and other members of your company's HR team are well-versed when it comes to interviewing potential candidates. Therefore, simply tap them for advice before the interview date. They can coach you on ways to perform best under pressure by doing mock interviews with you, reviewing the types of questions you ask, and answering any questions you may have about the process.

"When in doubt, it never hurts to ask the recruiter who is connecting you to top candidates, for a little assistance," says Mazzeo. "Their jobs are dedicated to finding and hiring the best talent for the company, so they'll be more than happy to assist you as a hiring manager trying to fill an open role."

3. Enjoy your time with the candidate. Instead of having the interviews seem like a stuffy, extremely formal experience, you can make them more of a conversation. While it is, of course, very serious business to hire a strong candidate for your team, you're both only human at the end of the day. You also want to make candidates (and yourself) feel at ease so you get a stronger assessment of each person's unique skills and abilities during your time together.

In sum, you can ease the pressure and stress of conducting candidate interviews by preparing yourself through research, working with your talent partner and HR team to learn more about interviewing and by keeping the interview itself as conversational and light as possible. By following these pieces of advice, you'll find all-star employees in no time (and be less nervous)!

When you're trying to hire the best talent for your company, it's key that you provide an application process that is as quick and as easy as possible. Candidates are increasingly turning away from organizations that require long or unwieldy procedures to submit resumes. In fact, according to the 2019 MRINetwork Recruitment Trends Study, about 31 percent of candidates said they're frustrated when a job application requests too much unnecessary information upfront.

To help avoid this situation, consider the following tips for reducing the information you request from candidates right away:

1. Avoid asking for references too early

As part of your hiring efforts, you will likely ask applicants for references who can discuss in-depth exactly how the new hire will bring value to your organization. However, it can be extremely annoying for candidates if a reference check is requested too early in the process. You are essentially asking them to provide a list of contacts that they may want to adjust, after getting further into the interview process. Serious candidates will want to provide you with references that they have prepped, and who can truly discuss their work experience and style as it pertains to the role for which they are being considered. Ultimately there is no reason to ask for this information on an application; all it does is lengthen the time for the candidate to submit their resume. Wait to ask for references until the final stages of the hiring process, so you don't give applicants one more reason to get frustrated with your application.

2. Try not to request social security information until it's absolutely necessary

Another piece of information to hold off on asking is a social security number. While this information is valuable for background checks and necessary for onboarding new hires, it's quite invasive for an online application. Candidates may feel the information requested has little purpose and may be concerned about this information remaining secure before employment becomes a viable reality.

Therefore, as is the case when asking for references, you should avoid requesting a candidate's social security number until as late in the process as possible.

3. Don't request contact information from former employers too soon

A final piece of information to leave off applications is the contact info for former employers. This information isn't necessary to evaluate whether candidates have the skills or experience that the job requires. It's also likely this information may be harder for applicants to locate, the further back you go into their work history. They may have to research the information to make sure it's up to date, which is another reason not to ask for this unless it's clear that you are close to making an offer.

In summary, keep the initial application short and sweet. Get to know candidates gradually before requesting information that's deeply personal or overly invasive, to avoid turning off future employees who could add tremendous value to your company.

It's no secret: Employee referral programs can greatly help your organization find and hire top talent. After all, where best to find potential new employees than by tapping into current workers, who share your firm's values and who are already helping you run a successful business? "Employee referral programs can be an effective way to hire talented people, and they can also be invaluable in the current talent acquisition environment, in which open jobs outnumber qualified candidates," according to SHRM. However, securing talent through a strong employee referral program doesn't just help you hire strong new employees. It can also be a powerful tool to help you promote your employer brand.

"These type of initiatives are an extremely powerful tool that can help you promote your employer brand and attract strong talent into the recruiting process, says Kathryn Budd, director of human resources for MRINetwork. "When applied consistently, employee referral programs can also be a great retention tool that translates into huge costs savings on recruitment and investment in employees over time." What does an effective employee program entail and how can you start one at your company? SHRM notes there are a number of things you can do, including:

1. Give employees the tools they need to refer: This can mean putting together a positive culture around employee referrals and being able to track these efficiently in an HR portal so that you can effectively review the entire referral workflow.

2. Set expectations and guidelines: Additionally, SHRM recommends that you should "make sure employees understand the referral program's guidelines and expectations, including who is eligible to participate in the program and receive rewards for referrals." Also be sure to include EEOC language to make it clear that the referral program is not discriminatory in any way.

3. Provide incentives: To help boost employee support in referring all-star talent, you should ideally put into place monetary inducements (if someone gets hired and stays for a set period of time). Make sure these incentives are paid in a predictable, timely and public manner and. To facilitate this, HR staff should set up automated payments in their HR information system.

Other guidelines to follow include holding leaders accountable and being transparent throughout the process with employees, providing feedback, and, importantly, marketing the program far and wide. This last guideline means investing in the marketing and communication plans to boost how many employees at your organization actually participate.

This is extremely important when trying to promote your employer brand. But, how is the term defined? According to SHRM, employer branding "is an important part of the employee value proposition and is essentially what the organization communicates as its identity to both potential and current employees."

Moreover, it includes many things about the company, including the "organization's mission, values, culture and personality," according to SHRM. "A positive employer brand communicates that the organization is a good employer and a great place to work." Notably, the article also states that an employer brand greatly affects the "recruitment of new employees, retention and engagement of current employees, and the overall perception of the organization in the market."

So, what are the specific ways referral programs can help?

First, a strong referral program, as noted above, includes clear expectations, guidelines and a powerful marketing plan of action. As a result of this communications push, employees will know in-depth how to speak with former co-workers and friends who they want to refer. This strong professionalism instantly makes your company look like a worthy organization and one that many will want to join because of this, leading to increased interest.

Second, your company should be investing heavily in communications and online content in order to promote your employer brand on your website, social media platforms, public relations and through other promotional materials. As a result, people will covet the chance to be referred and interviewed because they'll know even more about the company.

"An employee referral program is a win-win situation for you and your organization," says Budd. "You'll create both a powerful commitment to hiring the best people as well as an employer brand that truly shines." This will also signal to your firm's clients and other external stakeholders that your organization has robust systems for attracting the talent that will drive performance, further establishing confidence in your products and services, and ultimately a more successful business.

When a candidate applies to a job at your organization, chances are they're unhappy at their current company for a number of reasons, including a poor manager or a need for higher earning potential. However, a desire for upward mobility is the top motivation for a job search, according to 30% of candidates in the 2019 MRINetwork Recruitment Trends Study.

Some additional explanations include:

-Seeking more compensation: 25%

-Didn't like their boss 19%

-Contract assignment ended: 15%

-Switched to a different industry or sector: 13%

It's essential to anticipate this top job change motivator and to have prepared strategies in your interviewing and hiring processes that respond to this driver.

"With nearly one-third of prospective applicants trying to advance their careers through a job change, it's imperative that discussions around career pathing become a central part of the interview process," says Nysha King, media relations lead for MRINetwork. "From your website to the interview and post-interview steps, emphasize just how important career growth is at your organization."

The following are strategies you can follow to illustrate the ways you, as the employer, will ensure a potential employee succeeds at your business:

Demonstrate that your company prioritizes career growth. Illustrate that commitment on your company's website, career site and any external marketing and PR channels, as part of a deliberate employer branding strategy. For example, you can show that employees at your firm have fulfilling careers by highlighting stories of individuals who have advanced through a series of promotions within a culture that fosters recognition of excellent performance.

More specifically, you can post videos and publish blog posts on your site that showcase stories of advancement. These, in turn, will be read or viewed by prospective candidates.

"Telling powerful stories of workers who have really advanced and grown at your company is key to finding candidates who will feel confident in your business," says King. "Whether through videos, social media or PR, tell these stories and make sure applicants can easily relate to these experiences."

Proactively communicate during interviews your company's commitment to providing career advancement opportunities. Don't wait for candidates to ask about advancement opportunities; clearly promote it during interviews. Have interviewers highlight your organization's track record of giving raises, promoting and consistently supporting talented employees. Additionally, ensure interviewers provide personal accounts of advancement, and highlight data or statistics around promotions or annual raises. If your organization is struggling in this area, be honest and discuss the steps being taken to address this.

"Train your employees so that they can eloquently answer questions about job advancement," says King. "It will pay off by keeping star candidates interested and excited about your company."

Ultimately, candidates want to know they'll grow in their position at a new company or at least have the opportunity to tackle new challenges. Demonstrating evidence of this through employer branding can leave a lasting impression with potential new hires that makes them want to join a team that celebrates success.

The digital landscape and innovative technology have fundamentally changed the way many organizations conduct business. This includes how employers seek out new hires. From artificial intelligence to social media, online job search tools to gamification, these functionalities optimize companies' ability to attract, engage and nurture candidates for various positions.

Most firms are not using these technologies to replace more traditional recruitment methods; they're using them in tandem with one another, according to the results of the 2019 MRINetwork Recruitment Trends Study.

Despite the multitude of new recruitment technologies, the MRINetwork Study reveal more than 60 percent of employers have not changed their use of external recruiters. Close to one-third stated they've actually increased their use of third-party recruitment firms, inferring recruiters bring capabilities to the table that aren't available by leveraging technology alone. In a separate survey led by CareerBuilder, 42 percent of hiring managers said they used recruiters along with tech to shorten the hiring process, and 41 percent indicated recruiters provided a means of entry to candidates with unique, specialized skill sets that can be difficult to find.

Cynthia Davidson, senior director of research at the American Staffing Association, noted that well over half of hiring managers intend to work more often with external recruiters over the next five years or so.

"Even with new technologies pushing industry evolution, staffing firms will continue to play a key role in the recruitment process," Davidson explained.

Here are just a few ways recruiters can optimize the hiring process, beyond technology:

Access a wider candidate pool

Job boards can help employers pull in hundreds of resumes for a given opening, but this process may not elicit enough qualified candidates. This can especially be the case, when the role requires very specific skills that may be difficult to find. Industry-specialized recruiters can add even more depth to the talent pool by pairing companies with individuals that have the expertise they need.

Gain more perspective on analysis provided by evaluative tools

Personality/behavioral assessments, skill tests and gamification are increasingly being leveraged to better evaluate candidates' capabilities. These tools aren't foolproof and may not accurately reflect job seekers' aptitude. Since recruiters have a good read on the backgrounds, motivations and pain points of candidates they are representing, they can identify when employment assessment tools have fallen short, helping you put the results of these assessments into perspective.

Paired with state-of-the-art technology and third-party recruiters, employers can march forward, confident in the knowledge that their search for qualified candidates will not be in vain.

The interview process is crucial for you as the employer and the candidates you're hoping to attract and possibly hire. After all, this is not just your chance to learn about your applicants. It's also their opportunity to fall in love with your company culture and the position.

Therefore, it's critical you ensure your interview process sends the right message to candidates. In fact, according to the 2019 MRINetwork Recruitment Trends Study, 95 percent of candidates said their experiences during the interview process will somewhat or strongly influence whether they will accept a position.

That's not all: 74 percent feel the interview process is somewhat or very revealing about the company's work culture.

With that in mind, it's easy to see how a strong interview process can excite potential hires about your company. Since you only want the best, it's your duty to showcase your organization in the best light possible. This, in turn, will help keep strong candidates engaged, making it more likely they accept a potential offer to join your organization.

Here are some key tips for giving your interview process the boost it needs to get the strongest candidates in the door and working for your company:

"The interview process can make or break your relationship with an interviewee," according to careers expert Twila Grissom in an article for Forbes. "The importance of both parties making a good impression (whether or not the candidate is offered the job) can lead to your company being seen in a favorable light--or not."

To this effect, she recommends doing a few things to communicate this important message and make a lasting good impression. These include:

1. Helping the candidate feel comfortable: This is the first step in ensuring you'll attract strong talent to your organization. Make sure interviewers and HR staff are authentic and human with the candidates. "Upon arrival, show the candidate your entire space. If they are to feel comfortable working with you and the team, they should be able to see as much as possible and not just be ushered into a single room for the entire time," according to Grissom.

2. Be professional: While it's easy to expect the candidate to be professional and pull out all the bells and whistles to impress you, the employer must also do their best to maintain a high standard. "Be on time. Share a schedule with the candidate and do your best to stick to it," she writes. "Be sure to reserve a space. It leaves a terrible impression if you're wandering about, which can make you seem completely inept at the basics of meeting-setting."

3. Be on their side: A final piece of advice to send a strong message during the interview process? Simply treat a candidate well. "If you treat a candidate like you're already a fan of them and their work, they'll continue to exceed expectations," notes Grissom. "Reward confidence, and keep in mind that the ability to work with someone is far more important than their raw skills."

By following these three critical pieces of advice, not only will you have a more enjoyable interview process for your own employees, you'll also gain new hires who are excited about the company and growing at your organization.

After completing multiple rounds of interviews and presenting a job offer to a promising candidate, the work has in many ways just begun. Now that the new employee is starting at your organization, it's crucial that you help ensure their success.

Before that process begins, you'll also want to determine whether you can effectively track the productivity of that new associate. "Making the right hire is crucial for your business' future," says Kathryn Budd, director of human resources for MRINetwork. "That's why tracking a new hire's effectiveness is imperative - and something you should weave into your human resources process from day one."

In fact, according to the 2019 MRINetwork Recruitment Trends Study, there's one recruitment metric that stands out among the rest when trying to gauge a new hire's effectiveness: performance tracking. Nearly half (48 percent) of employers said it was their top benchmark for assessing a new hire's effectiveness.

Meanwhile, other factors include:

-Tracking the source of successful candidate hires (35%)

-Source and quantity of candidates who were offered a position (33%)

-Time to hire (32%)

-Interview-to-hire ratio (31%)

-Fall-off rates: new hires who accept offers, but don't show up for the first day of work (27%)

What does performance tracking of a new hire mean? It's the process of evaluating how well an employee is doing at your organization through a variety of strategies, tools and resources.

However, this isn't always clear-cut. For example, according to a Forbes article written by CEO Robert Glazer, the definition of success can be murky. "Fit and performance remain gray areas for many business leaders," he writes. "Situations arise where it's clear that something has gone wrong, but no one is sure if the problem is with the employee or with management."

That should never be the case at your business. "It's extremely important to clarify your company's definition of success for new employees," says Budd. "That way, you can find and implement strategies to efficiently track performance."

For instance, one study cited by Forbes found that "the process matters." It continues that the performance review process "can be viewed as uncomfortable, unfair and uninspiring." To help improve it and, "make sure employees accept the feedback, managers must acknowledge the individual identities of their workers and their specific contributions to the organization over time."

Here are strategies to consider when tracking a new hire's effectiveness:

1. Conduct performance reviews that are holistic and well-documented

The first way is through the performance review. According to a Chron.com article, written by financial writer Joseph DeBenedetti about the methods of tracking performance, "Standardized performance review sheets allow managers to track employees' fulfillment of, and progression toward, operating objectives over time." These can take into consideration both technical skills as well as information about a person's interpersonal abilities.

However, you should also create a culture where employees, especially new hires, receive ongoing feedback and check-ins. This is especially important for younger talent. As one Forbes article on the transformation of worker feedback notes, "Ongoing reviews have been a better way...to stay on top of professional development and opportunities for improvement rather than talking about it once a year."

Therefore, offer continuous reviews alongside the more standardized annual review to give employees the more regular feedback they need to succeed.

2. Take peer reviews into consideration to see how an employee works with others

Conducting peer reviews and appraisals is a second strategy to follow. You can conduct these by speaking with multiple employees and managers about the new hire's work, reporting trend data from these conversations to "identify favorable and unfavorable patterns of behavior," according to the Chron piece.

"Conducting 360-degree review procedures are important because they help give your talent the opportunities needed to truly thrive," concludes Budd. "By setting these up, employees will have the tools they need to succeed from day one with your company, which will help your bottom line as well."

Through these strategies, you'll have a strong grasp on how your new hire is doing at work. This will greatly boost your organization's efficiency as well as keep your company culture strong for years to come.

Take a look around, almost everywhere you go it seems everyone is on a mobile device. These mechanisms provide us with 24/7 access and the ability to instantly connect to work, and almost every aspect of our personal lives. It should be no surprise then that candidates expect this same convenience when applying for a job. However, this is one task that many employers haven't adapted for ease on a mobile apparatus, according to the results of the 2019 MRINetwork Recruitment Trends Study.

In fact, 76 percent of candidates say they expect the ability to submit applications and receive feedback via a mobile device. However, just 30 percent of employers offer a mobile-friendly application process. While that's up from 10 percent who did so in 2015, according to separate analysis from the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), employers aren't transitioning to these on-the-go options as quickly as today’s workers expect.

Josh Ostrega, chief operating officer and co-founder of the software company WorkJam, told SHRM that it's in employers' best interest to invest in the digital era."

These companies may be missing out on the most qualified prospects," Ostrega explained. "Highly skilled workers don't stay unemployed for long. Enforcing a sluggish application process encourages strong candidates to look elsewhere."

Here are some strategies that you as an employer may want to consider implementing to optimize candidates' experience:

Partner with an industry-specialized recruiting firm

By working in concert with an industry-specialized recruiting firm, you can give your candidates more on-the-go options for applying to jobs, while also gaining access to a larger pool of potential candidates. "The odds of you finding a perfect candidate who is also looking for you is miniscule," said Chris Hesson, manager of technology training for MRINetwork. "Increase your odds by working with a recruiter who is the expert in your arena and knows the players. A savvy, niched, focused recruiting firm can also help ensure top talent are applying for your jobs via platforms that are on the cutting edge of technology," This can be especially critical if your company isn't able to invest in a mobile-friendly process."

Draw on other tech capabilities

If your organization is able to make some technology investments, consider offering quick-apply options on job boards and social networking sites like LinkedIn. Here, candidates can simply provide their profile link for consideration. If you're directing applicants to apply through a career site, make sure downloaded resumes can be parsed so that candidates don't have to make manual entries. Harnessing the power of mobile technology is a win-win, both for candidates and your company's ability to attract top talent on an ongoing basis. Ensure your organization isn't losing out on the best in the industry because of a clunky, outdated process.

The digital landscape and innovative technology have fundamentally changed the way many organizations conduct business. This includes how employers seek out new hires. From artificial intelligence to social media, online job search tools to gamification, these functionalities optimize companies' ability to attract, engage and nurture candidates for various positions.

Most firms are not using these technologies to replace more traditional recruitment methods; they're using them in tandem with one another, according to the results of the 2019 MRINetwork Recruitment Trends Study.

Despite the multitude of new recruitment technologies, the MRINetwork Study reveal more than 60 percent of employers have not changed their use of external recruiters. Close to one-third stated they've actually increased their use of third-party recruitment firms, inferring recruiters bring capabilities to the table that aren't available by leveraging technology alone. In a separate survey led by CareerBuilder, 42 percent of hiring managers said they used recruiters along with tech to shorten the hiring process, and 41 percent indicated recruiters provided a means of entry to candidates with unique, specialized skill sets that can be difficult to find.

Cynthia Davidson, senior director of research at the American Staffing Association, noted that well over half of hiring managers intend to work more often with external recruiters over the next five years or so.

"Even with new technologies pushing industry evolution, staffing firms will continue to play a key role in the recruitment process," Davidson explained.

Here are just a few ways recruiters can optimize the hiring process, beyond technology:

Access a wider candidate pool

Job boards can help employers pull in hundreds of resumes for a given opening, but this process may not elicit enough qualified candidates. This can especially be the case, when the role requires very specific skills that may be difficult to find. Industry-specialized recruiters can add even more depth to the talent pool by pairing companies with individuals that have the expertise they need.

Gain more perspective on analysis provided by evaluative tools

Personality/behavioral assessments, skill tests and gamification are increasingly being leveraged to better evaluate candidates' capabilities. These tools aren't foolproof and may not accurately reflect job seekers' aptitude. Since recruiters have a good read on the backgrounds, motivations and pain points of candidates they are representing, they can identify when employment assessment tools have fallen short, helping you put the results of these assessments into perspective.

Paired with state-of-the-art technology and third-party recruiters, employers can march forward, confident in the knowledge that their search for qualified candidates will not be in vain.

Organizational change becomes necessary when the current way of conducting business is no longer effective. However, change management doesn't occur in a vacuum; it affects just about everything - including the customers you aim to please and the candidates you hope to attract. Whether it's new technology the company will invest in or the restructuring of roles, organizational change can serve as an incentive for applicants to apply or a deterrent. It's all in the approach.

Here are some tips that can further your recruitment goals, followed by some pointers for candidates applying with a company experiencing change:

Employers

Be fully transparent

It's not enough to say that changes are ongoing. "The why is essential," advised change management expert Susie Patterson. It's the first step in understanding the change process for any individual.  Being open and honest about the rationale for the restructuring helps candidates understand what's going on and form their own conclusions about whether the transformation is something they can embrace.

Identify evidence of progress

The whole point of change management is to bring about improvements. Wherever progress has been made, reference those examples to candidates. In doing so, applicants can determine how these positive developments will benefit them should they decide to accept a position. They might also then spread the word about the improvements within the company based on what they've observed, which can help strengthen the company's employer branding and potentially spawn increased interest in job applicants. Word of mouth and first-hand observation are two of the more effective outlets for communicating about enhancements.

Candidates

Ask plenty of questions

Interviews should never be a one-way street - where the applicant is the only one answering questions. When speaking about a role with a company going through change, this serves as the perfect opportunity to ask about the specifics. It not only helps you come to a decision about whether this a change you support and can get behind, but also demonstrates engagement and willingness, which is something employers are always looking for in new hires.

Do your research

Abraham Lincoln put it best: "Give me six hours to chop a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

In short, preparation is key, and research should be a part of how you evaluate a prospective employer that is undergoing change. Often you can find information online via press releases, new stories and company websites announcing major changes, and if further along in the process, milestones and outcomes of those organizational changes. Do some homework in this regard to see what changes have been made, and to what extent they compare with those of competitors. The insights you glean can be used to inform your judgment about whether the company made the changes in order to stay competitive or went about them voluntarily to improve performance in areas where it is underperforming. You may also want to assess the big picture, as the changes may speak to a different direction the company's industry as a whole is moving toward.

Has the employer laid out the proposed steps for how the transformation will occur? Are the steps and goals clear and achievable? Having a plan in place is a good sign that the company has thought the process through and is invested in delivering on its intentions.

Whether you're instituting change or courting a company in the midst of transformation, the approach is key to the desired outcome. Doing your due diligence always pays off. Expanding these efforts - through transparency, recognition, observation and research - increases the chances that change management will be seen as a success both internally and externally.

While many employees may be comfortable in their current roles, it's probably safe to say that most top talent want to continually advance in their career. Regardless of whether the goal is to be promoted within a company, or simply stay up-to-date on new skills or technologies , high performers of all generational groups want to improve themselves, so they're better tomorrow than they are today.

This reality is great news for businesses, which are increasingly focusing their operations on training. However, it's equally important to make these training opportunities apparent to candidates, as this can encourage them to join your company's ranks should they be extended a job offer.

Training to become a top priority in 2019

Companies have a lot of priorities throughout the year, and at the top of the list is strengthening employee training programs. In fact, 58 percent of employers in the 2018 MRINetwork Performance Management Study said training programs, as well as attracting and retaining top talent are major issues they intend to tackle in the new year.

"Training really isn't about achieving a quick hit or magical answer," said Sherry Engel, vice president of learning & talent development for MRINetwork. It should be part of a strategy to ensure skillsets are aligned with the needs of the business. By strategically focusing development on individuals that contribute to the company's goals, employers will see improvement in their business outcomes. Not only does this benefit organizations through improved business results, but also leads to higher employee engagement , which ultimately drives retention."

They're wise to do so, not only because successful training improves work processes, but also because training is something that employees desire. Among candidates in the MRINetwork survey, external training was cited as one of their most preferred incentives for staying with a company.

It's easy to understand why. The job market is extraordinarily competitive and businesses are pulling out all the stops to find the most qualified people. Training gives current workers a leg-up on their competition in the marketplace, while also incentivizing job seekers to apply because of the potential to advance their career.

Workers acknowledge the value of training

Workers today aren't just competing with other individuals - machines are vying with them as well. Artificial intelligence is used in a variety of industries, in part to reduce labor expenses. Some experts believe that AI will become more commonplace over time, particularly for positions that involve repetitive tasks. However, a recent Gallup poll found that Americans aren't too worried about losing their jobs to robots, especially those with highly specialized skills. This may be because they have faith in the upward mobility that training can spur. In a separate Gallup survey, 43 percent of respondents said they're confident about being able to take advantage of training to improve their skill sets in the event AI puts their job security at risk.

Help workers bridge generational gaps by learning from each other

Regardless of age group, leveraging training makes good business sense. Not only can workers benefit from training that will help them personally in their own career trajectory, but cross-generational training programs, such as mentoring and succession planning, can also help the organization ensure the next generation of employees are being prepped to lead the company into the future. Senior staff can also benefit by learning more efficient processes or technologies from younger workers who may be more adept with these platforms.

"Employers should take a blended approach to training, ensuring specific development programs are aligned with the best delivery approach," advised Engel. "With a growing number of Baby Boomers retiring, there's an enormous opportunity to provide formal mentoring and succession planning programs that share the knowledge of years past with the up-and-coming next generations. Today's learner also wants their training to be short, focused and timely, through delivery platforms such a short videos or text tips. The most effective programs incorporate these methods."

Just as junior staff can learn from those older than them, senior staff can also benefit by learning about more efficient processes or technologies from younger workers, who may be more adept with certain platforms.

Generation Z - those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s are particularly interested in training opportunities. According to LinkedIn, Gen Z is on pace to represent 20 percent of the American workforce by as early as 2020. Given their relative newness to the working world, they're ready and willing to learn the ropes. Sixty-two percent of Gen Z respondents in a LinkedIn survey said becoming better at their job was the main reason why they were open to learning, more so than for salary or promotion purposes.

"Gen Z are interested in training on skills that will benefit them in the job they have today, as well as for roles they will have in the future.," Engel said. "Giving them this opportunity can be mutually enriching and rewarding."

Ultimately, top performers of all generational groups are driven to succeed. The quickest, most effective way of achieving it is through learning, which training provides. Be sure to mention training programs that are available to employees in job postings, interviews and reviews. It's a surefire way to attract and retain star talent.

Employers by and large concur: When it comes to hiring, an ideal candidate is one with experience. However, there's something else business owners also agree upon - experience isn't everything, especially when job candidates bring other desirable qualities to the table.

According to findings from the 2018 MRINetwork Performance Management Study, close to 80 percent of employer respondents either somewhat agree or strongly agreed with the statement that they're more likely to extend job offers to people with transferable skills, but who lack industry experience due to increased difficulty finding qualified talent.

Interestingly, however, candidates aren't always aware of employers' flexibility. Just 50 percent of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that companies seriously consider applicants with tangible skills, but who lack industry experience.

This is a key finding for employers to recognize, one that they may consider factoring into how they advertise job openings, so candidates are fully aware.

That being said, candidates don’t always mention transferable skills on resumes or in interviews. Thus, businesses must endeavor to identify them during the hiring process.

Here are a few tips that can help you assess inexperienced job candidates whose marketable skills could make them the ideal people to fill open positions:

Look for signs of enthusiasm

Enthusiastic employees are engaged employees. When workers are excited about the job functions they serve, they're more likely to perform well because they're eager to learn, improve and achieve results. Try to spot evidence of potential workers’ passion for previous work, as well as for the job to which they're applying. This may be found in their resumes, such as if they were ever "Employee of the Month," but also in the interview itself.

Consider prescreening

The interview is only a small moment in time that provides a snapshot of what candidates are like and can offer. It can be difficult to identify all their transferable skills inside of 30 to 60 minutes. You may want to prescreen them so you have an idea of what they're like before they arrive.  Social media can provide a sneak peek into their backstory. In a recent poll conducted by CareerBuilder, nearly 60 percent of employers who acknowledged using social networking for researching job candidates did so to better identify their qualifications.

Fifty percent said they also used Twitter and Facebook to get a sense of their level of professionalism.

Seek manifestations of potential

Hiring solely based on experience can be tricky because it's not necessarily indicative of how well applicants will perform in the short-term, or the long-term. They may lack the temperament or desire to take their talents to new heights.

The ideal is a combination of both, noted Johansson Consulting CEO Anna Johansson. Writing in the Huffington Post, Johansson stated that potential is particularly worthwhile, because it’s more inclusive and broadens the pool of prospective hires. It also makes the hiring process in general less taxing.

“It’s a lot easier to find and hire a candidate who has potential than to track down someone who has years of experience and is available for hiring,” Johansson wrote. “A business is also much less likely to overrate potential than experience … which has become a problem over the years.”

How do you spot it? Experts say potential is manifested through indications of enthusiasm, such as curiosity, inquisitiveness, determination, insight and emotional intelligence. Asking probing questions can draw these qualities out.

No candidate is perfect, nor is any particular hiring method. However, being more open-minded and evaluating applicants beyond credentials and specific industry experience, can help employers hone in on the right person whose transferable skills can have a huge impact within the company.

In the executive, managerial and professional labor market, unemployment has been hovering around 2 percent, leaving companies across many industries struggling to find top talent.  In a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal and executive advisory group Visage International, University of Michigan economist Richard Curtin discovered that "the biggest challenge confronting firms is their need to expand hiring in an already-tight labor market." As a result of increased competition for high performers, employers are now more willing to make concessions to move their organizations forward.

Here’s some advice that may help your organization with its hiring efforts:

Keep an open mind

When hiring managers look for potential employees, they often only focus on the ideal candidate who has all the desirable qualities for the role. It’s important to recognize that an applicant may not need to possess every single one of those qualities to become a great hire, and rigidly sticking to your list may mean that you lose out on a candidate who could be successful in your organization.

Someone can have exceptional educational and work backgrounds, and still fail at your organization if they aren’t a good cultural fit, or if they don’t share your core values. Think about the type of person who will fit in among your employees — the mentality they’d need to thrive and the interpersonal skills that will help them become part of the team.

After you draft a job description, revisit each requirement to determine if it is absolutely needed. You may find room for negotiation on professional designations or technical skill sets that would be nice to have but aren’t essential to the job. Look beyond your wish list to see who might thrive in your company’s environment even without all your ideal attributes.

Expand your talent pool

If you insist upon finding a candidate you don’t have to train, you could add months to your search for a new hire. You could probably train someone in that amount of time while also benefitting from the value that person may add in other ways as they ramp up. Look for coachable, high potential candidates who have transferrable skills that will help them overcome the lack of specific experience.

According to the 2018 MRINetwork Performance Management Study, nearly 80 percent of the employers surveyed agree or strongly agree that finding quality industry-experienced talent is more difficult than ever, and that their companies are more likely to hire people who have transferrable skills, but lack industry experience. .By considering those with transferable skills, you can significantly expand the number of applicants and focus on more general skills, such as organization, teamwork and communication, which might be just as important for the role, but are much less teachable than specific, technical skills.

Both employers and candidates see poor communication as a problem in this area, according to the study. Companies need to make it clear they are open to candidates who have applicable expertise, despite their lack of industry experience. Candidates need to focus on how they discuss transferrable skills during the interview process and demonstrate how those skills can be applied to a different industry.

Offer sign-on perks that attract candidates

The MRINetwork study also indicated that half of the surveyed employers are increasing the rate at which they offer sign-on perks. Among the top perks that organizations are willing to provide are company-paid health insurance, sign-on bonuses and moving expenses. Candidates are on the same page as employers about the desirability of these benefits, with 76 percent citing both sign-on bonuses and health insurance, and 54 percent citing moving expenses as most important to them. A number of employers stated they are willing to offer tuition reimbursement (33 percent) and even help in repaying student loans (23 percent) as incentives.

Employee perks can have a significant impact on your ability to attract desirable candidates and lower employee turnover. Some of the standard benefits packages offered by companies just aren’t cutting it, which is why many firms have decided to augment them in order to stay ahead of their competition for top candidates. As one hiring authority observed, “There are severe shortages of qualified employees in many sectors of the labor market. This makes it an employee’s market and it thus requires incentives (higher pay, bonuses, etc.) to acquire and maintain quality employees.”

An interesting finding of the survey suggested that while employers are boosting sign-on perks, many candidates are unaware of the potential perks they could be leaving on the table. Organizations will need to become more forthcoming about these perks during the hiring process and address the skepticism that some candidates have about sign-on perks. “Companies are willing to pay for one-time extras to get the people who best match or exceed their ideal candidate profile,” said one potential candidate, “but they may not, however, be willing to start at a higher compensation level.”

In a down market, candidates will be less demanding and more flexible with employers because they’re desperate. But in today’s market, applicants have numerous options, so it is imperative that that the way employers approach them and the advantages that are offered give candidates every reason to want to join a company.

By the time a candidate is brought in for an interview, initial screening through a resume and frequently a phone interview, have already warranted them a good match for your company - on paper that is. The objective of bringing the applicant into the office for an interview, is to get a clearer picture of their personality, work ethic and values. To do so, you'll need to elicit open, honest answers from the candidate.

Any candidate that makes it to the in-person interview stage is capable of doing their research, preparing for questions and prepping answers they believe the employer wants to hear. While this demonstrates commitment of time and consideration prior to the interview, you also want to ensure that the potential hire can think on their feet.

As Nancy Halverson, general manager of franchise operations for MRINetwork explained, the best way to draw unrehearsed answers is to ask unanticipated questions. "A few standard questions may be necessary to equal the playing field among candidates," said Halverson. "However, asking targeted and unexpected questions during an interview can produce genuine, natural responses that are more indicative of the job seeker's true character."

Halverson recommends considering the following unanticipated questions to find top talent who are the best cultural fits for you and your company:

1. What were you doing on your very best day at work?

As Fast Company reported, Lori Goler, head of people at Facebook asks most candidates this question who interview with the social media giant. She explained that it's a question that reveals a candidate's strengths and talents, which can then be compared against the company's needs.

Required to think critically and dig deep, interviewees will likely land on a day when they were the last one in the office, solving a long-existing problem or making a crucial breakthrough on a project. These snapshots into their past work experience can provide insight on how they will contribute to your company's bottom line and succeed in their career. Keep in mind however, that even non-monumental examples can be indicative of solid, consistent work ethic.

2. What was the most interesting encounter you've had in the past few months?

This unexpected interview question serves two purposes. First, you'll discover how the candidate responds and reflects on an experience that stood out to them. Was it an inspiring conversation with a homeless man? Or was it a tech discovery that unlocked a helpful shortcut? The encounter they choose, as well as their response, may demonstrate innovation, problem-solving or any other number of skills important to the job in question.

Secondly, the answer to this question will draw out creativity in top recruits. Important attributes for any successful employee, are creative thinking and the ability to ask questions, as CEO of the American Heart Association Nancy Brown told Fortune. Engaging in conversation and analysis is what she considers the "catalyst" to assessing all that might be possible.

3. What did you do on the day after Hurricane Irma or other major event?

Jodi Kantor, New York Times correspondent noted in Quora, that what you truly want out of any interview is the real-life experience of a person. When candidates can respond using true experiences they have been through, you will get the most telling and illustrative answers. A response to a natural disaster is telling yet not personally invasive, such as asking how the candidate spent the day after the 2016 election.

This targeted, straight forward question will elicit some of the most candid responses. As Kantor explained, hypothetical questions that have traditionally been common in interviews will not provide the answers you are looking for. Asking the candidate to describe their reaction to a major national or international event goes further than traditional "what if" questions.

"Again, asking the unexpected questions can help paint a full picture of your candidate," concludes Halverson. "From the way they think, react and respond, an answer to this kind of question conveys true character through spontaneity.

The “interview” represents the first get-to-know-each-other period for applicants and businesses that are hiring. It gives employers the ability to see whether candidates' descriptions on paper match what they portray in person. The interview serves the same function for candidates as well, providing a sneak peek into a company's day-to-day operations. However, when these initial conversations don't go as planned, both candidates and employers point to the same issue as the primary cause: poor communication.

That's according to recent data revealed in the 2018 MRINetwork Performance Management Study. When employers were asked to identify the biggest shortcomings among candidates they'd interviewed, a lack of communication skills (41 percent) was the most commonly cited response.

Interestingly, when candidates were asked a similar question - What are the greatest gaps or shortcomings of companies where you've interviewed most recently? - they too cited bad communication, particularly after final interviews, as the biggest problem of all, referenced by 36 percent of the individuals polled.

Ultimately, strong communication is extremely important in the interview process.

Here are a few suggestions for ensuring communication doesn't break down and that both parties walk away fully understanding one another:

Explain yourself

Candidates: The resume may provide a general idea of what you bring to the table, but it's really just an overview. When asked to elaborate on certain aspects of your resume, be prepared to expand on what you listed without embellishing. Twenty-eight percent of employers in the MRINetwork survey cited lying about credentials as an issue when interviewing candidates. In a separate poll conducted by CareerBuilder, 75 percent of human resource professionals said they'd caught job seekers in lies before.

Employers: Candidates come to the interview wanting to better understand the company beyond what they've independently researched. They're less than pleased when the question-and-answer session ends with as much information as when they came in. Ensure that the role they're seeking matches what was in the job description. Nineteen percent of candidates in the MRINetwork survey pointed to discrepancies in the scope and duties of the given role as a big interview turnoff.

Show evidence of having done your research

Candidates: Although you'll likely be receiving the bulk of the questions, you may be asked if you have any inquiries. Pose some that show you've done your homework, such as those that relate to the company’s strategy in its early days, asking how that compares with the goals the business has in the short- and long-term. Being naturally inquisitive about the direction of the company demonstrates a strong sense of engagement and interest in the role.

Employers: Job seekers devote time, money and energy into establishing their credentials, whether newly out of college or with several years under their belts. Their dedication deserves recognition. Come to the interview having looked over their resume. You may not need to know their education verbatim, but asking questions that probe certain aspects of their credentials can show genuine interest in their experience and serves as positive affirmation that they are being considered for the role.

Stay in touch afterwards

Candidates: Sending a thank you note is not only courteous, but it shows that you're highly interested in the job for which you’ve interviewed. Enthusiasm is a crucial component of landing a position. Thirty-seven percent of employers in the MRINetwork poll referenced lack of enthusiasm about the job as one of the top shortcomings among job seekers they'd evaluated.

Employers: Not knowing whether they got the job can be unnerving for candidates, especially when they feel like the interview went well. It’s also disrespectful of the time and effort the applicant has invested. Try to keep them in the loop even if you don't extend an offer. Approximately 1 in 3 candidates in the poll cited little to no communication after the interview as their biggest frustration.

Every interview can’t end in a job offer, but no good can come of the process when communication falls apart. It can also leave a bad impression of your organization that can be shared in the market place. Adhering to the above best practices can help ensure candidates and employers are on the same page, and have all the information needed to make the decisions that are best for them.

Remember when screening a candidate past the interview stage was limited to references and a credit, background or drug test? The growth of social media has introduced another dimension to the hiring process - that while on the surface appears positive, can present challenges in gaining a clear picture of a candidate - both socially and professionally. As social media is increasingly being leveraged to evaluate candidates, employers will need to determine what policies they will put in place to ensure consistency in the hiring process.

According to the 2018 Reputation Management Study conducted by MRINetwork, nearly half (48 percent) of candidates believe their social media presence is important or very important to potential employers. "They are aware that employers can now learn a lot about them prior to meeting with them, or even before contacting them, as they seek out candidates who have the skills and personalities that will be beneficial to their organizations," says Patrick Convery, marketing manager for MRINetwork. "Consequently, many job seekers are putting more of their social media profiles on private, or even setting up separate professional profiles, so their information can't be shared with the public."

While many employers casually review candidate social media profiles, the survey reveals that 18 percent are formalizing the process, and another 17 percent say they're considering doing so in the future. But what are they looking for? Although they want to learn something about the candidate's social life or the choices they make - 39 percent of hiring managers say questionable content or behavior is the No. 1 thing they look for - they are also looking to see if the job resume is consistent with the information posted on social media by the candidate. "LinkedIn and Facebook users typically add their place of work, the college they graduated from, their hometown, and where they're currently living," observes Convery. "Prospective employers can check this information to be sure that the candidate's resume is lining up correctly with their profile information."

The Pitfalls of Overreliance on Social Media in Hiring Decisions

Not everyone updates their social media to their current situation and there are still some candidates who do not yet have a social media presence. As employers check out candidates, they may inadvertently ignore someone who is a perfect fit simply due to their lack of a social media presence or inconsistent updating of their information. "If social network users have their profiles set to private, as is becoming more common after recent breaches in security, this means they don't want the world seeing what they post, which results in an absence of the kind of data employers are looking for to screen job applicants, says Convery."

Another risk that employers face when using social media information in the hiring process is a legal one. Employers have to be aware of the types of information they are selecting to use in the hiring process; it can be problematic to assess candidates based on their race or gender since this information is protected legally and cannot be taken into account when hiring, according to the Chicago Tribune.

CAUTION - If you learn of a candidate's protected characteristic(s) (including age, sex, race, color, religion, and national origin) by reviewing the candidate's social media sites, you may not allow that to influence your willingness to recruit and/or refer that candidate to your client. Likewise, you should not share that information with your team.

Creating a Consistent Policy on the Use of Social Media in Hiring

If your company reviews social media profiles, it's best to establish a policy around the use of candidates' online information in the hiring process that clearly outlines when online searches should and should not be used. "By identifying positions for which searches are an important element of the process, you can develop a standard approach for how these searches will be conducted and how the information will be used," says Anne Hayden, vice president of human resources for MRINetwork.

Hayden advises that you consider how to incorporate the following components into your policy:

-Clarity on the rationale for the use of searches

-Transparency for those using the policy and for candidates who are the subject of searches

-Consistency in terms of how searches are conducted and who conducts them

-Openness about what impact the findings will have on candidates

"When done correctly - and legally - looking at a candidate's personal profile can be a great hiring tool, but you will still gather the best insights from the personal interview, concludes Hayden. "Asking the right questions and encouraging an honest dialogue can help you get to know a candidate better than their latest post on Instagram and prevent you from passing up a great new employee."

Many candidates can interview well - but that doesn't necessarily mean they're the right person for the job. There are ways that you can improve your company's interview process to get a better sense of whether or not a candidate will be the right fit. At the same time, you can use the interview process as a way to market your company as a great place to work.

Here are some tips for revamping your interview process:

1. Ask behavior-based questions

Asking "What's your greatest weakness?" will only get you so far. These rigid types of questions don't give you much room to discover the true character of a job candidate. Instead, ask behavior-based questions to get a deeper understanding of candidates and uncover their values, Monster.com recommends. For example, ask questions like, "What does an ethical workplace look like to you?" or "What did you do when you felt like you were confronted with a situation that didn't agree with your values?"

2. Don't just listen to what they say, but how they say it

In addition to what an interviewee says, you should also pay attention to how they say it, such as how long it takes for them to answer, and if their answer is direct and delivered confidently. Asking creative, unexpected questions like "It's one year from now - what are you doing?" can lead to insight into a candidate's confidence levels - if they answer quickly, it shows they know themselves well and are confident in their work and career goals.

3. Listen for specifics...and if you don't get them, try silence

If you ask a candidate about a time they had to deal with a difficult client and they gloss over the details, over-emphasize that everything was fine or seem to ramble, they might be grasping at straws, or worse, stretching the truth. Sharing specific details shows that a candidate knows their stuff according to Mark Murphy, founder of Leadership IQ. Don't mistake using a lot of words as having actual expertise. If you're faced with a candidate like this, wait a few moments longer than usual before moving on to the next question - the candidate may feel compelled to provide further details. Frequently the more people talk, the easier it becomes to determine whether they are using fluff language or if they have real knowledge and experience.

4. Make the interview process a streamlined and coordinated effort

The interview isn't just a one-sided thing - it's also a reflection of your company. A drawn-out, clunky process can make high-quality candidates less interested in the position. Do your prep work and narrow down the interview to the questions that really matter. Keep candidates updated on their status every step of the way, as not hearing back from a company for weeks on end after an interview is off-putting. Make sure that if a candidate has to undergo multiple rounds of interviews with different team members, you have communicated interview questions amongst the team, so the candidate feels like everyone at your company is in the loop.

With these tips, you can revamp your interview process to be truly valuable for not only your company, but the candidate as well. Ultimately, improved interview practices can arm you with deeper insight into the full breadth and depth of each applicant's experience, while also providing the opportunity to deliver a positive impression of the organization that helps to reinforce your company brand in the marketplace.

In today's highly competitive job market, businesses can't afford to take a lackluster approach to recruitment and hiring. Not only can a bad hire lead to costly turnover, but it can also negatively impact the organizational performance of a business and, therefore, its bottom line.

According to the Society for Human Resources Management, the cost of replacing an employee could end up amounting to anywhere between 50 percent and a few hundred percent of the individual's yearly salary.

Never has it been more important for employers to hone in on a strategy to attract, onboard and retain top talent. However, this is often far easier said than done. Fast Company reported that two of the biggest reasons companies hire bad candidates can be attributed to needing to fill the position quickly, as well as the organization failing to test or research the skills of the candidate well enough.

"There are many factors that come into play when determining whether someone is a suitable candidate, including their skill set and background, as well as how well they fit within the corporate culture," says Nancy Halverson, general manager, franchise operations for MRINetwork. "To avoid the risk of costly hiring mistakes, there are key steps companies need to take - starting with getting a clearer picture of who their ideal candidate is."

Halverson recommends the following to help employers clearly define their ideal candidate:

Build a candidate profile

The more specific a business is about what its ideal candidate looks like, the better the chances of being able to identify and attract them. Too often, hiring managers cast a wide net in hopes that the top performers will simply come to them. But there needs to be a better, more specific definition of what that person looks like, the exact skill sets and experience they should have and what will be expected of them.

Not only does this help hiring managers, it also benefits candidates as well. According to Aberdeen Group, there is a disconnect between the expectations of employers and candidates, which contributes to higher turnover. Candidates also reported wanting a clearer definition of what the role and responsibilities are.

"Candidates want to know what to expect - both from the position and company," notes Halverson. "It's important that they're able to get a clear understanding of what working for a company would be like before applying - let alone committing - to a job."

Put competencies into context

As Lou Adler recently explained in a LinkedIn article, without context, hiring decisions are influenced by personal perceptions and biases, which are the leading cause of hiring mistakes. To avoid this, companies must clearly define roles and responsibilities, as well as the required traits and competencies for performing those functions - not just which ones they need, but why and how they will be used on the job. Additionally, how will the success of those competencies be measured?

The article also suggested outlining about five performance objectives explaining the task, an action verb detailing the role, followed by a measurable result.

"By outlining the attributes, characteristics and duties of the candidate ahead of time, employers will be better positioned to hire someone who fits the bill," says Halverson. These are the ingredients needed to create a performance-based job description which allow employers to minimize bias attributed to a lack of context and, in turn, reduce their risk of making costly hiring mistakes.