In a tight labour force market, sourcing candidates has become a real struggle, particularly for the health care and social assistance sector. Candidate numbers via online job boards are rapidly dwindling yet many organisations still favour these channels.

Not only are we seeing a huge reduction in active job applicants for care roles, but one might also question the quality of candidates still using these channels to get a job. The term “revolving door” comes to mind.

Benefits of Diversifying Recruitment Sources

Research suggests that diversifying recruitment sources can lead to better hiring outcomes, such as:

• A more diverse pool of candidates and thus
• More diverse hires
• A better company cultural fit
• Broader candidate reach
• Higher quality candidates
• With longer tenure

Some examples of recruitment sources are online job boards, agencies, employee referral, social media, community outreach, flyer drop, vocational institutions and migration programs.

The power of your employees

Employee referral programs have been found to be one of the most effective ways to find top-notch candidates. Research published in the Journal of Business and Psychology found that employee referral programs were the most effective recruitment source for finding candidates who were a good fit for the organisation. Additionally, research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that employees who were referred by someone they knew were more likely to stay, resulting in lower turnover rates and greater retention. As an added bonus, the referring employee also had longer tenure!

Moreover, employee referral programs have been found to be cost-effective. A study published in the Journal of Labour Economics found that employee referral programs had a lower cost per hire compared to other recruitment sources. Monetary referral rewards also go directly back to employees and thus become an investment, instead of an external spend.

Employee referral is also an ongoing source of new staff, as for each new hire, organisations can tap into a whole new, often local, network. It’s the low-hanging fruit of recruitment sourcing, yet completely under-utilised in many organisations.

How to turn referral from a drip to a drizzle

“It’s too cumbersome to manage!” is a phrase often uttered when talking about employee referral programs. And it is indeed, when using a spreadsheet. So 20th century. There are modern solutions that streamline the referral process and make it fun and rewarding for employees, either integrated in a recruitment system or via a dedicated app. Organisations using an employee referral app, such as Care Friends in Australia and the UK, are creating a culture of referring and get up to 30% of new hires via this high-quality source. On average, these referrals have tenure more than double that of staff sourced via other channels, making referral an important source to add to your mix.

Questions to ask yourself now

To overcome the challenges of a tight labour market by diversifying recruitment sources, organisations need to ask themselves a few important questions: What is the breakdown of our current recruitment sources, the number of hires and retention by source? Are we overly reliant on a single recruitment source, and how can better leverage our existing employees to help us recruit?

If you are finding that you’re not yet getting more than 15% of new hires via referral, then you have at least one new recruitment source to tap into.

With nearly two decades of experience in Human Resources, Marleen Galligan is a seasoned professional with a diverse skill set that includes recruitment, change management, training, marketing and communication, EVP, and psychometric assessments. Leveraging her educational background in psychology, Marleen provides valuable guidance to clients through a range of services and tools, including their Employee Referral app, Care Friends, to help turbocharge the power of employee referral and their Psychometric Assessment tool, Care Advantage, to effectively screen candidates.

Sources

Seek.com.au

Breaugh, J. A. (2008). Employee referrals: A review. Journal of Human Resources, 43(2), 262-276.

Cable, D. M., & Turban, D. B. (2003). The value of organizational reputation in the recruitment context: A brand‐equity perspective. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(11), 2244-2266.

Chua, R. Y., & Ingram, P. (2013). A tale of two cities: Competing logics and practice variation in the professionalizing of mutual funds. Academy of Management Journal, 56(1), 1-33.

Dineen, B. R., Noe, R. A., & Shaw, J. D. (2008). What leads to the referral of job candidates? An exploratory field study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 50-59.

Holm, H., Eriksson, T., & Åkerman, N. (2018). Examining the effectiveness of employee referral programmes: A quasi-experiment. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(17), 2459-2478.

Martin, A., & Liao, H. (2016). Do birds of a feather flock, fly, and continue to fly together? The differential and evolving effects of attraction, selection, and attrition on personality-based within-organization homogeneity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(5), 679-696.

Rynes, S. L., & Cable, D. M. (2003). Recruitment research in the twenty-first century. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 93-119.

Slaughter, J. E., & Zickar, M. J. (2006). Referral source and applicant reactions: A study of fairness perceptions and organizational attraction. Journal of Business and Psychology, 21(3), 313-328.

Turban, D. B., & Keon, T. L. (1993). Organizational attractiveness: An interactionist perspective. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23(22), 1858-1876.

www.carefriends.com.au

The post Why Online Job Boards are No Longer Enough: The Power of Employee Referral Programs appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

We spoke with Abdullah Haddara, Director of Haddarco, a Melbourne-based construction company, to understand more about the challenges of recruitment in the construction industry over the past few years and what has worked well for them when it comes to combatting these challenges.

Q: Could you please tell us more about Haddarco?

Haddarco is a Melbourne-based construction company that focuses on providing high-end support and service through our work, which mostly consists of government and private sector projects.

The company was established around sixty years ago by my father, Radwan Haddara. It started out as a very small, family-owned business that was a 1-3 man band – this approach built a great foundation for the business.

In the last ten years or so, we’ve really shifted direction and grown to more than 20 employees, with many projects on the go. Since we don’t really do advertising and rely mostly on word-of-mouth, maintaining our strong reputation within our industry and ensuring our projects are of high quality is paramount.

At the heart of our work is our people. Throughout the organisation’s growth, we’ve maintained our values and culture of loyalty, trust, respect and understanding each other on a deeper level. Focussing on these values and our culture has enabled our team to collaborate and adapt effectively, which in turn means we are able to deliver high-quality projects consistently.

We gathered our people in a team building exercise in which we asked them to describe best what they felt working for Haddarco. Words like, honesty, integrity, professionalism, innovation, foresight and purpose were prevalent. From this, our team chose our company motto, Building with purpose. Soon after, our mission statement was formed:

“Haddarco’s mission is to deliver better builds by providing the highest level of professionalism and workmanship, to deliver the client’s dreams through integrity, innovation, and foresight, and to serve with a sense of purpose.”

Q: How has recruitment been for Haddarco over the past few years?

As with any industry, you need the right people in the right place – and in the construction industry recently, the right people have been very hard to find.

COVID caused a huge workforce shortage – people have left the industry across the board, from direct construction roles (blue and white collar) to related consultant roles, such as architects and engineers. They either moved away from Melbourne to escape lockdowns or, in that time, reassessed whether they really wanted to be in the industry – there was already a lot of pressure in the construction industry and the pandemic gave a lot of people the push to make a shift in their career.

Another challenge is that during the last couple of years, we’ve seen a lot of companies in our industry willing to pay above and beyond to fill their vacancies and snap up talent, causing further scarcity in an already thinning construction recruitment market.

This workforce shortage has caused increased pressure to complete projects – our deadlines are still there, and now the workforce available to meet them is smaller.

I think it would be safe to say that recruitment is definitely one of our top challenges.

Q: What strategies has Haddarco used to combat recruitment challenges?

We’ve focussed on retention and being adaptable. When the pandemic first hit and no one knew what was going on, we brought all our team members into our office before the lockdowns and reassured them that we would do everything possible to ensure that everyone would be retained – and we followed through on that. We retained all those team members and an important part of that was that they felt they were in safe hands.

Retention is an ongoing focus for us – as mentioned, we have a strong culture of loyalty, trust, respect, and understanding each other. What this looks like for us is making sure we are constantly communicating and collaborating with each other. We have regular team exercises and activities, where we ask our team members what they think of how things are going, what we can do better, and how they are feeling. The effect of COVID on organisations has only made it more clear to us that we will always hold fast to that culture no matter what.

We’ve also become more adaptable with our recruitment. Since our focus is on finding the right person and we recognise that skills can be learned, we’ve widened our scope to include people who may not necessarily be from our industry or have specific experience, but whose skills and background are transferrable to the roles they are applying for.

For example, we were looking for a contract administrator and found there was a shortage of talent with experience in that specific role; so we looked at someone who was an office administrator. They had experience in data entry, so we brought them across and got them to focus on certain aspects of contract administration that they would be proficient in.

We’ve found a number of ways to adapt to recruitment challenges – it really depends on the role, but we’ve found success in thinking outside the box.

Q: What do you look for when recruiting?

In our industry, there are a few key things we look for to meet our business needs. Firstly, efficiency is key – with pressure to meet deadlines, we look for people who have the right skills and, most importantly, attitude.

Obviously, having the technical know-how is important, but being able to work alongside our team members and adapt to client needs is key. We really look for proactive problem solvers – people who can identify problems before they become big issues, and not only identify them, but offer a solution. These people are valuable additions to our collaborative and adaptive team culture.

Finding talent who want a career in construction fits in well with Haddarco, too, because we are big on upskilling. Investing in our team’s training and upskilling means we can support their growth and more easily pivot in times of recruitment strain.

We work with an external talent acquisition partner, Scout Talent, who helps us find and hire for roles through their recruitment campaigns. What set them apart was that they facilitate psychometric testing, which helps us go that one step beyond just finding someone with the right skills – with these psychometric tests, Scout helps us find candidates who are the best matches for our culture and organisation. Since our culture is so important to us, this service is so valuable in helping us really get that personality match right. 

When we were looking for a recruitment partner, it was important to us that we find a partner that wanted to get to know us and understand our bigger picture. We’d encountered many other recruiters whose approach was a cookie-cutter business model; for them, it was a matter of making sure they get their commission on whoever they find for us – then six months down the track, they may even try to recruit that person for another client. 

The common theme was that they weren’t really focused on building that customer relationship with us – and we found that understanding and partnership with Scout Talent.

Q: What is your advice to other construction HR teams struggling with recruitment?

While a lot of businesses went under during COVID, Haddarco stayed its course as a rapidly growing business. And to keep facilitating that growth, I don’t want to speak to 5-6 recruiters, I want to talk to a dedicated point of contact. My advice to external recruiters working for a particular client industry such as construction is to definitely focus on your customer service and building that personal relationship. 

Our priority at Haddarco is to have a cohesive workforce and environment, so finding a recruitment partner in Scout Talent, who really understands our bigger picture and helps us find people who align with our work culture, has been invaluable. 

My advice to construction companies is that when you’re hiring, look for longevity. A quick fix isn’t going to solve your problem, so don’t settle for just anyone you can find. It’s really about looking for the right fit and working with your external partners to ensure that you’re looking at the big picture.

Abdullah Haddara is the Director and Head of Operations of Haddarco, a Melbourne-based construction company. He has almost 20 years of experience the industry, and holds a Bachelor of Construction Management & Economics, a Diploma of Building Construction, and an Advanced Diploma in Business Accounting. 

The post How Haddarco has navigated recruitment in the construction industry appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

While this tightening job market has plenty of implications for businesses of all sizes, it’s particularly stressful for managers who are feeling the strain of constant demands while battling with the loss of top talent. Devising employee retention strategies is therefore critical in this market.

The post Five ways to improve talent retention in a tight labour market appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

A report from KPMG has found that 77 per cent of business leaders have cited talent as their biggest challenge in 2023. The specific talent challenges being faced will range from attracting the right candidates, candidate drop off, and quick quitting.  Creating a strategy to address these challenges is key to retaining your people, and growing your business. One facet of this strategy should be Employer Branding. 

In this article, we’ll explore how organisations that prioritise Employer Branding can address the common talent acquisition problems mentioned above:

• Quick quitting
• Candidate drop off
• Building a talent pipeline

Scout Talent’s Employer Branding service and talent pool management software module, :Engage, are designed to help create a long-term Employer Branding strategy, and articulate your EVP. Scout Talent works with you to help you understand your “why” – why should someone work for you and not someone else? What makes you different? What makes you better? When you have articulated answers to these questions, it will help candidates understand your “why”, too. 

Employer Branding: a TA technique that solves problems

How does Employer Branding solve quick quitting?

Quick quitting is a phenomenon where a candidate takes a job, only to quit within the first year. Recruiting to replace the new hire can be a time-consuming and expensive process – plus, the gap they leave behind in your team can affect productivity and morale. So how do organisations tackle this phenomenon?

Many employers believe that quick quitting is the result of something negative about the candidate (for example, they do not want to do hard work or they found a higher paying job elsewhere). However, it is often related to a poor candidate experience during the talent acquisition process, which can lead to a lack of connection between a person and their organisation. 

Employer Branding addresses quick quitting by building a great candidate experience from before the person applies, to long after they have accepted the job. 

Once an organisation is able to articulate its Employer Brand (with the help of Scout Talent’s Employer Branding specialists perhaps), they are able to incorporate key elements of it throughout the entire application process. From the job ad, through the interview process, and right up to when an offer is made, organisations should be communicating their unique values and benefits to applicants. This ensures candidates are aware of the “why”, and are actively connected with the organisation’s purpose and values. 

An organisation can continue to build the connection that new hires have with them as part of their onboarding process. By showcasing the organisation’s Employer Brand that was spoken about as part of the attraction stage, new hires will start to feel like they are part of the team. Now is the time for them to see the organisation’s purpose, values, and benefits come to life!

New hires who have received a positive candidate experience, and who have been onboarded with care, are not going to be immediately looking for a new role. Quitting within a year comes from a lack of connection between an employee and their organisation. Strong employer branding addresses this throughout the entire talent acquisition process.

Want to learn more about articulating your EVP? Get in touch with Scout Talent’s Employer Branding specialists here.

How does Employer Branding reduce candidate dropoff and ghosting?

Some employers find that candidates start to disappear during the application and interview process. They may have expressed initial interest but at some point became disinterested or preferred their prospects elsewhere and moved on. In many cases, these applicants “ghost” the organisation altogether, disappearing without giving feedback.

Why does this happen? Often, it’s because the candidate applied for the role with no excitement or passion. They weren’t interested in working for that specific organisation – they just wanted a job. Then, something else came along and they moved on. 

Employer Branding can help to prevent this issue. When organisations clearly showcase their benefits and values that set them apart, the applicants they attract are more likely to be connected to the organisation and stay invested in the application and interview process. 

In the event that a promising candidate does take another job, having a strong Employer Brand is still a benefit as it will make the candidate more likely to communicate rather than disappear – ghosting an organisation would mean possibly burning the bridge for future opportunities. 

The great news is that Scout Talent has tools to reduce dropoff and support various candidate journeys. Alongside their Employer Branding services, their software module :Engage allows you to build and nurture talent pools, so that you can stay in touch with previous candidates for future vacancies. 

How can Employer Branding support your talent pipeline?

Another issue that many organisations face is losing out on highly skilled candidates who did not get hired simply because there was only one vacancy. This issue worsens when these candidates do not receive feedback on their application; if they feel they had a bad experience, unsuccessful candidates may not speak positively about an organisation, which could affect its ability to draw in future candidates.

In this current competitive talent climate, organisations can stay proactive by responding to every candidate and adding them to their talent pool through software modules such as :Engage. By building a talent pipeline and engaging with promising candidates about new opportunities, organisations will be more prepared to address future talent acquisition needs.

Scout Talent’s platform is a Circle Back Initiative certified provider. This means that their technology empowers organisations to provide quick and branded feedback to every candidate, regardless of whether or not they were successful in their application. From an Employer Branding perspective, this helps an organisation to build a reputation as an employer that is communicative and treats people as more than just a number.

From the applicant’s perspective, they are receiving a better candidate experience and are more likely to want to stay engaged with an organisation. This sets your organisation up for success as it provides a future pipeline for your talent acquisition needs.

If you’d like to explore how Employer Branding can help your organisation solve quick quitting, reduce candidate dropoff, and build a talent pool, contact Scout Talent’s Employer Branding specialists today.

The post Solve the top three talent acquisition challenges with employer branding appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

Indeed and Glassdoor recently released their very first joint Hiring and Workplace Trends Report, which explores the projected areas talent acquisition and HR teams will need to focus on in 2023 – including the value of company culture; an increased demand from candidates to see DE&I initiatives; and working with team members to enact feedback and change in the workplace.

In line with these three key trends, Recruitment Marketing Magazine Editor, Susie Mather, gives her thoughts on how organisations can leverage these insights to see growth in the new year. With over 20 years of experience in business and recruitment, Susie’s reflections are informed by the strategies and successes she has seen in the organisation she co-founded, Scout Talent.

Key insight 1: Company culture is valuable in both attracting and retaining team members

Susie: Commercial reality, authenticity and good old common sense are key when it comes to building a robust company culture. Firstly, culture needs to be totally authentic in order to have value; and secondly, businesses have to make commercial sense. The good news is that it’s a straightforward formula: without one of these things, a culture can often be lacking. 

The bad news is: organisations can’t simply “incorporate things” they think would appeal into their culture in the same way they might add Lego bricks to a Lego castle. Think of organisational culture like an individual’s personality – a mixture of DNA and ‘nurture over time’ that is somewhat set and not terribly easy to simply “add things to” in order to appeal to candidates. 

The “adding of things” can definitely be done, but it definitely puts authenticity (at the very least) at risk. For example, you can’t just add trust and integrity as items to your company culture if you haven’t taken the steps to ensure there is transparency within your teams or facilitated situations where team members have to rely on each other. In order to make something a part of your culture, you need to get buy-in from your team members and ensure that adding it aligns with your business goals.

Similarly, “cultural bricks” that contribute to a viable business can’t simply be easily removed later on like a Lego brick is, if the organisation feels they’re no longer ‘needed’. If your team members have operated on a system of transparency to maintain trust within the team, you can’t suddenly decide that information should be siloed – doing so would cause your team members and perhaps even external stakeholders to question the authenticity of your culture.

All the above is why employer branding often goes disappointingly (and expensively) wrong. If an employer branding company offers, even very obliquely, to “add things to your culture” that will help you attract more or better talent – please, run a mile. In fact, just call me and I’ll shout you an Uber. 

Why? Because employer branding is all about identifying, articulating and amplifying an organisation’s actual employer brand, not adding things to enhance it. And the identification phase should involve workshops with key stakeholders, and in-depth talks with at least 40 current employees across the full range of roles and tenures, just for a start.

I’m not saying an organisation can’t improve its culture. Not for a second. But it’s nothing to do with employer branding team or company. Changing culture requires the careful and focussed attention of a group of existing stakeholders in an organisation, and buy-in and ownership at all levels including executive and board. 

If you’re looking to elevate your organisational culture in 2023, remember that it’s never quick. It’s never painless. It can be done well. And don’t let any employer branding consultants tell you about adding Lego bricks.

Key insight 2: Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives – and employers’ progress on them – matter to employees

Susie: This topic is dear to my heart. At Scout Talent, we’ve made a particular focus this year on DEI&B, with the B standing for Belonging – which is an important facet because you can create all the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the world, but if your team members don’t feel like they belong in your workplace, then what are you doing it for?

One of my favourite memories, when I think about DEI&B at Scout Talent, is the International Foods Potluck hosted by one of our content marketing specialists and resident DEI&B champion, Kyra Kirrane. I asked her to share more about the Potluck for Recruitment Marketing Magazine, as well as her thoughts on the importance of DEI&B and how employers can do better in 2023. Here’s what she said:

DEI&B seems like a huge undertaking, but it really can start with a conversation and a light-hearted internal event. We have a real passion for food at Scout Talent, so the idea to host an International Foods Potluck came very naturally. As our first DEI&B initiative, it was something that many people could get excited about, everyone could participate in, and there was no cost required of the business to host this really engaging event. 

I put together some collateral, which included a few colourful posters and some carefully crafted Slack messages, and started “marketing” the campaign internally about three weeks out from the date. I recruited some champions to organise the same event in our other offices around the globe, which really helped to make the event feel more impactful. 

Finally, I prepared a little “speech” for the start of the event to set the scene. I explained why we’d gathered: to celebrate our multiculturalism through food. I emphasised that because food is embedded in culture, it’s also deeply connected to identity, and an event like this allows us to preserve and celebrate our diverse cultures in a multicultural society. This is particularly true for people whose culture is not the dominant culture i.e. Australian. As an immigrant myself, and with many, many colleagues who are immigrants to Australia, it was important for me to make space for the myriad cultures that we have the privilege of experiencing every day at Scout Talent. 

I also took a moment to acknowledge that food practices are influenced by access and that we should reflect with gratitude on our access to the delicious food we’d prepared and keep this in mind as we tucked in. 

The event was a great success: we got a really good amount of participation from people bringing in homemade snacks, and I encouraged everyone to come to try them out even if they were unable to bring something along themselves. Our various offices around the world participated and our Slack channels were flooded with pictures of everyone taking part. In particular, some of our team members who are typically more reserved came out with amazing spreads and loads of engagement – a great sign when you’re trying to nurture a culture of inclusion and visibility! 

Upon reflection, I think the following takeaways were key to making this initiative happen, and can be valuable points for organisations looking to improve their DEI&B or start similar initiatives in the new year:

• Empowering your teams: Key to my ability to host this internal event and create a business-wide project team that includes an executive team member, was truly feeling empowered to pursue something I cared about during work hours. 
• Engaged and forward-thinking leaders: Identify strengths in your team members and encourage them to explore them, and flourish.
• A level of independence and autonomy: Once I was empowered to take this project on and turn it into something real, my leader supported me and always gave me her best advice, but let me drive the initiative independently, which reinforced my own communication and leadership skills. 
• A culture of learning and development: Not only was this my most direct pathway into DEI&B (we have dedicated weekly learning hours, which I used to prepare for the potluck) but it is key to creating an inclusive culture because by its nature, becoming more diverse and inclusive asks people to HEAL: harmonise, empathise, accept, and learn (a concept from motivational psychologist and speaker, Eve Ash). Humbling yourself in the face of learning new ways of thinking about the world and its people can be challenging – the more positive, safe, and collaborative your culture, the easier it will be to implement new and exciting initiatives.

Key insight 3: Workers have more leverage to demand change in the workplace

As mentioned in the Indeed and Glassdoor Hiring and Workplace Trends Report, a demographic shift towards an aging population means hiring will continue to be a challenge for years to come. This is translating to workers having more power to demand change in the workplace. 

This isn’t a bad thing at all – in fact, employers should view this as an opportunity to start 2023 strong and ask their team directly for feedback on how they can improve, so team members are shown that their opinions are valued.

One way to ask for feedback is to simply listen. Make the time to really listen to employees’ comments and requests when they come in, with your only intention in that moment being to understand them – the response can come later, after you’ve heard all they’ve had to say.

While you are listening, stay measured and calm. When it is time to respond, protect the organisation fiscally (after all, it does support all these people) by not making reactive decisions. If you don’t have an immediate answer, tell your team member(s) that you will come back to them, and take the time to formulate a well thought-out response, as well as a plan for how you will communicate it.  

Another way you can collect feedback on a wider scale and regular cadence is through a Employee Engagement Survey (EES). At Scout Talent, we conduct an EES within the entire organisation every year to check in with our team – we ask them what they’re happy with, what we could do better, and give them an opportunity to give specific feedback. The most valuable part of doing this is that afterwards, we review the results and discuss feedback as a wider group, then within our divisional teams to implement change. 

In between EES and tidbits of feedback, it’s absolutely essential to constantly show your team members they are valued. Tracey Mathers gives great tips here on how to do exactly that – so that when your team comes to you with requests for change, they’ll feel more comfortable and empowered to do so, and the request itself will feel like exactly that, and not a demand.

A key thing to remember is that any changes that come from employee requests need to be authentic and aligned with the business’ goals both now and into the foreseeable future. Why? Because circumstances will continue to change, and any changes you promise need to be viewed in the whole picture of the company’s culture. After all, cultural bricks aren’t like Lego bricks that can be added and taken away again.

The post From the editor: How you can set your organisation up for talent acquisition success in 2023 appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

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In support of ‘R U OK?’ Day on September 8, Recruitment Marketing Magazine spoke to Rachel Clements,  Co-Founder and Director of Psychological Services at Centre For Corporate Health and Resilia. Her expertise lies in working with organisations and HR teams to create safety and wellbeing at work. She leads an expert team of consultants who are focussed on assessing workplace wellbeing, tailoring intervention services and strengthening employee resilience.

Rachel shared some insights into why connection is important in the workplace, and how we can foster meaningful connections as employers to be able to ask our teams “R U OK?” today and every day. Read her responses below.

Why is connection in the workplace important – and what can healthy connection look like? 

We spend so much of our time at work, so it’s essential that we feel connected to our colleagues and leaders. So much of our wellbeing at work is predicted by the quality of our relationships, especially with our direct managers. People who experience a strong connection with their colleagues are generally more engaged at work and feel less stressed. 

The healthiest of connections in the workplace occurs when there is a culture of psychological safety. This means that people feel they can bring their whole selves to work without feeling judged. In these types of team cultures, informal debriefing after stressful situations is common, R U OK? chats are an everyday practice and help-seeking behaviours are not stigmatised. 

What are some of the signs to look out for that might signal that someone needs support? 

We wear many different hats when it comes to our daily lives, whether it is as a parent, partner, friend, employee, manager or carer. With these different hats come unique compounding factors that can take a toll on our wellbeing. Adding in the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected how we live our “normal” lives, it is a lot to cope with. 

Often, we don’t like to admit when things aren’t going well. We tend to mask the signs that might indicate we are not travelling well, such as working longer hours, increasing our caffeine or alcohol intake or even making excuses for changes in behaviour. This makes it trickier for those around us to identify when we may be struggling to cope. With all that is happening in the world right now, the chances that someone close to you is experiencing difficulties coping, whether they are telling you or not, is high. 

For those around you, it is about noticing a change in behaviour or mood. Are they not acting as they normally would? Are they usually immaculately presented but are looking a bit disheveled? Are they usually the one organising get togethers but haven’t done so in a while? Is your neighbour usually gardening in their front yard when you get home from picking the kids up at school, but lately you haven’t seen them? Noticing these changes is your warning sign that it’s time to ask ‘R U OK?’.  

How can we ask someone ‘R U OK?’ in a respectful and constructive way? 

There is no need to overthink how to ask “R U OK?” – there is no qualification needed to ask the question and then listen without judgement. Here are some starting points to encourage someone to open up to you about how they are feeling. 

• “I’ve noticed a few changes in what you’ve been saying/doing. How are things for you at the moment?”  
• “I know there have been some big life changes for you recently, how are you coping?”  
• “You don’t seem yourself lately – want to talk about it?”  
• “Just checking in, to see how you’re going?  
• “With everything that’s going on, you’ve been on my mind lately, how are you?”  
• “You’ve got a lot going on right now. How are you doing?” 

If you have noticed someone isn’t travelling well, however your “R U OK?” question is met with “I’m fine”, you could try the double ask. 

“R U OK?”

“I’m fine”

“You’ve got a lot on right now, how are you really going?”

If someone still says they are fine, you can tell them that you are always there if they want to chat. Remember your role is not to have all the answers, it is to listen and then work with them on some ideas for what might help get them back on track. This could be helping to connect them in with some professional support, a GP, their EAP at work or a psychologist. 

What are some common barriers (personal, professional, organisational) to people asking for help?  

When experiencing mental health concerns like anxiety or depression, the symptoms that follow can make it difficult for someone to reach out for help; these are things like feeling lethargic, experiencing feelings of helplessness and not wanting to burden others with their problems. This is why asking R U OK? is so important as it shows people you care and can be just the thing that sets them on the road to recovery. Professionally, suppose a workplace does not have a psychologically safe culture. In that case, people can feel deterred to reach out for support, fearing repercussions to their career or being stigmatised as unable to cope. 

This is why it is so important for leaders to establish a wellbeing culture, one where wellbeing and mental health is openly and regularly discussed, where leaders show vulnerability that they too experience times when they need support. If organisations do not actively promote wellbeing support services and ‘R U OK?’ conversations are not commonplace, this inhibits help-seeking behaviours and not only impacts employees negatively but also results in absenteeism, presenteeism, an increase in sick days and an increase in psychological injury claims.   

What features and attitudes do workplaces with high workplace belonging and wellbeing rates have in common? 

Psychological safety is a term used to describe a belief amongst members of a group that it is safe for them to voice opinions, bring their true selves to work, ask questions and admit mistakes without fear of a negative reaction or repercussions. At work, this means that employees feel emotionally secure to share their views and ideas, take risks, and provide feedback. It is also a workplace where team members are encouraged and feel safe in seeking support and guidance with regards to their mental health and wellbeing.   

In a mentally healthy workplace: 

• people look out for one other and ask colleagues or team members if they’re ok  
• leaders and team members understand mental health and have open and authentic conversations about it   
• people know how to draw upon their resilience during challenging times and workplace actively try to manage psychosocial risks   
• employees know their early warning signs and seek help early  
• employees with mental health issues are supported in their recovery.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in need of support, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Rachel is the Director of Psychological Services at the Centre for Corporate Health, which she founded with Tony Bradford, Managing Director, in 1999. As the principal psychologist, Rachel is a sought after conference headliner, requested to speak on all things mental health, resilience and wellbeing. Rachel’s training programs and keynotes offer a new lens through which employees and executives alike can shift their attention inward and sharpen their focus on what they can do to create psychologically safe workplaces.

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If a candidate you think could be “the one” ghosts you during the recruitment process today, two things are true for sure. First, they probably just weren’t that into you. Second, in today’s tight talent market, it hurts a heck of a lot more than it did back when we were young and love was just for fun.

Luckily, the first of those two true things is controllable, whereas the pain of rejection is something I can’t help you with. Sorry. But the good news is that there are heaps of things you can do to avoid the rejection of ghosting by helping the candidates of your dreams be “all that into you.” In fact, here are five focus areas that will go a long way. Best of all, I’m not even going to tell you that you should wait three days before you text them.

Your employer brand is their first impression

Employer branding—it’s here to stay. Employer branding has evolved in the last decade to be an absolute expectation in the hearts and minds of top talent. The best candidates expect your organization to have a brand message and employee value proposition (EVP), and they expect to see this clearly articulated on the careers page of your website.

A strong employer brand is your first chance to get top talent “really into you.” Don’t miss this chance, because your talent competitors won’t. There’s a mountain of help available, and it doesn’t have to cost the earth. The most important element of employer branding is authenticity. If the employer brand you present to candidates does not come true for hires once on board, then you’ll only have achieved the workplace equivalent of a bad marriage. Authentic, clear employer branding, on the other hand, is your first and strongest secret weapon toward strong engagement with a talent pool in which you’re as right for them as they are for you.

Money matters, but so does everything else

When good candidates ghost you during the recruitment process, it’s easy to assume that they got a higher paying offer. I have two thoughts with regard to this. First, could you have established a stronger relationship with the candidate much sooner, thereby getting the chance to have a conversation with them about how your offer really stacks up against the competing one?

Second, it’s never just about the dollars, and employers need to make all the other benefits clear. Recruiters and hiring managers need to deeply understand the wider value of the career opportunity they’re hiring for, including all benefits, feel confident and full of belief in that value and be able to articulate it with clarity. And that can’t wait until the interview stage. More on urgency in point three, so let’s race on to that one.

It actually is a race

You really don’t have the luxury of taking your time in the war for talent that a tight candidate market brings. Ghosting is often the result of insufficient candidate engagement very early in the recruitment process. You need to be reviewing applications as soon as they come in, shortlisting them quickly and efficiently, contacting them (using your voice, not just email) pronto and getting them stepping through a smart, enjoyable recruitment process before you lose the best of them to talent competitors with a better process. Give yourself the competitive advantage of top-notch recruitment technology to help you with this, and if you’re short on time, outsource.

Every candidate deserves a fabulous experience

The candidate experience—from reading your very first job advertisement and clicking through to your careers portal, or being headhunted online or through a phone call, all the way through the application, shortlisting and interview process, then offer and acceptance—should be your biggest strategic advantage.

Don’t let any element of the candidate’s journey let you down. Review, discuss and practice every single step along the way to ensure that no step is the one causing ghosting. It’s so easy to optimize the candidate experience your organization becomes known for, and it’s also terribly easy to get it wrong. Take the time to know that you, your team and every hiring manager in your organization are getting every element of candidate care right—every email, every call, every interview, every contact.

The movie doesn’t end with the proposal

Twenty years ago, candidates committed to a new employer when they signed an offer. That’s no longer the case. Today, candidates tell us that they fully commit only once on board and that the induction process, in particular, is crucial to them knowing they made the right choice and one they intend to stick with. So put someone awesome in charge of induction and make sure the whole team is right behind that crucial first impression.

As Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, says, “Acquiring the right talent is the most important key to growth. Hiring was—and still is—the most important thing we do.” I fervently agree. The stakes are so high, and the best talent is so elusive right now. It can be incredibly disheartening when a candidate you’re excited about suddenly ghosts you. It’s great to know that the right recruitment systems, technology, branding and, most of all, attitude can save you some real pain and see you winning the war for talent.

This article was originally published on Forbes and was republished here with permission. You can find the original article here.

Andrea Davey is the CEO at Scout Talent. Andrea and her team harness the potential of technology and the passion of people to grow companies, careers and communities.

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While many believe the go-to answer is to offer enormous pay cheques, according to a survey from PwC, this isn’t the only thing Australians are paying attention to when scoping out their employment options. In fact, employees are willing to sacrifice up to 20 per cent of their pay and take a cut in return for other appealing facets of a job role.

With talent in control more than ever before, here are a few things they are looking for in their next position, especially amidst the Great Resignation.

1) Flexibility

Currently, more than 40 per cent of employed people regularly work from home, according to data released by the ABS last August, up from around 30 per cent before the pandemic.

But would people be less reluctant to take a job or continue working in a job that forces employees to work from the office indefinitely, rather than allow for at least a hybrid arrangement?

The answer is generally yes, especially when some companies are even trialling four-day work weeks with uncompromised pay.

While there are benefits to working back in the office such as watercooler moments, maintaining culture, brainstorms and collaboration, the pandemic has allowed workers to realise the pitfalls that also come with it, including the cost of commute, reduced productivity and work-life imbalance.

Employers need to reevaluate the function of the office in the post-COVID environment in order to get the most out of workers and gain the attention of potential hires.

2) Impactful perks

And as the lines between work-life and personal-life continue to blur and top talent becomes harder to find, employees and jobseekers are requesting more from companies.

While free pizza, company-branded merchandise and ping pong tables might have cut it pre-pandemic, workers now are looking for perks that will provide real value and benefit them for the long-term.

These “essential” perks often come in the form of growth and health initiatives, such as learning and development opportunities, mentorship, mental health and wellness programs and the chance to develop and nurture their out-of-work passions, such as maintaining a fitness routine.

3) Supportive culture

According to a FlexJobs survey, nearly one-third of employees are considering quitting their jobs and one-quarter resigned over the past six months, citing toxic company culture as their top reason for leaving.

The reality is Australians are no longer wanting to slug it out at jobs that they hate waking up for, instead opting for workplaces with healthy company cultures, strong management and supportive employees.

Although it can be difficult for companies to admit they have a toxic workplace culture, it is essential for leaders to do their due diligence and get to the root of the problem before their entire workforce packs up.

4) Diversity and inclusion

Workplace diversity and inclusion, whether it is cultural, gender, sexual orientation or neurodiverse, is a vital part of company culture.

At a time when employees and job seekers have the upper hand, companies that prioritise diversity and inclusion are much better placed to win top talent.

Having a strong diversity and inclusion policy (D&I) also helps to improve employee satisfaction and retention, as employee turnover happens most often when they don’t feel that they belong or feel safe in their work environment.

5) Strong onboarding

A survey by BambooHR found that more than 80 per cent of employees who gave their onboarding experience a high rating consistently hold their organisations in an inflated regard, have greater clarity in their roles, and are more committed to their jobs.

Employee onboarding is a company’s opportunity to showcase what a culture of mutual support and well-being looks like to new recruits. A good onboarding procedure may boost or break an employee’s desire to stay with the company. If done in a lacklustre way, a new employee may start to regret their decision of accepting the role at the company in the first place.

As companies try to find ways to give themselves the upper hand when it comes to recruitment, they can get one step closer to finding the right fit by ensuring they tick all these boxes and are ultimately creating a welcoming environment.

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In a market where there are far more jobs on offer than skilled employees to fill them, attracting the best employees holds the answer. Therefore what do employees want? 

We asked them. Scout Talent Group ran an online survey over the last 24 hours and the results are in. We asked the question:

‘Who would you rather work for, Tesla or Atlassian?’

Survey Results from over 3,000 survey impressions: 50% Tesla. 50% Atlassian.

The case for working in the office: 

There are some employees who prefer the office for underlying psychological reasons like socialisation, role interdependence, ‘face to face’ team work, an increase in innovation and more effective communication being able to see and understand a colleagues body language and manner. Despite the growth and acceptance of online communication platforms like ‘ZOOM’ and ‘Microsoft Teams’, there are still those who will always prefer real life interaction.

The case for working from home:

The opposite case can equally be justified for those individuals who are more effective working at home to be more productive, not so reliant on social engagement, comfortable with online calls, or are deliberately choosing to work in an environment geographically remote from the office.

Scout Talent Group’s CEO, Andrea Davey, comments, ‘Understanding psychological profiling tools like ‘Myers Briggs’ show categorically that everyone is different, it is not right or wrong, good or bad, we are just hard wired differently, work differently and react differently. At the same time we can all contribute positively within an organisational team environment.’

‘I am not at all surprised at these split research results, it is natural. This survey result re-enforces the current popular logic of offering employees a hybrid workplace solution. For example, we are seeing a lot of organisations offer working in the office Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then offering the option of working from home on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays.’ 

Scout Talent Group

Scout Talent offers a comprehensive talent acquisition platform empowering your organisation’s strategic growth. Scout Talent’s best of breed talent acquisition software, is supported by a range of solutions including Employer Branding, Talent Attraction, and Talent Engagement – to help you attract and retain the best talent.

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