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Virtual Recruiting During COVID-19

We are all facing an unprecedented challenge amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Organizations are working hard to protect their staff as employees are adjusting to working from home while dealing with school closures. Job seekers wonder if they’ll be able to find a new position, and employers have to change the way they hire.

First and foremost, INNOVA People hope that you remain healthy, and you are following all the necessary recommendations to stop the spread of this virus. We’re here to help. Our team is on call if you’re looking for guidance while transitioning to a “socially distant” recruiting model.

Here are some resources and best practices for virtual recruiting.

Recruitment

HR managers are quickly adjusting recruitment strategies. The time is now to move to a virtual recruitment plan — one that protects both employees and candidates and eliminates risk while continuing to drive hiring efforts.

While virtual interviewing can be different, experts say it’s not an obstacle and doesn’t take away from the interviewing experience. Joel Slenning, President of Strategic Talent Acquisition at INNOVA People, says, “Virtual interviewing can be a beneficial and thorough way of conducting the interview process. I recommend having an interactive experience by sharing screens and having candidates show their work, showcase their capabilities right on the screen with a challenge question, or coding example, etc..”

Save-time to hire

Video functionality lets you quickly schedule interviews with in-demand candidates who are in the final stages of a competing offer, live out of town, have limited availability to come in for an in-person interview, or require an interview team with demanding schedules. You will lose most of the candidates who are in high demand during the late stages of your recruitment process if your hiring process is slow.

Keep it Simple

If you aren’t sure what video conferencing tools to use, start by keeping it simple, consider what tools are already in place: GoToMeeting, Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, etc. can all be triaged into adequate video interviewing tools. If you need to think about solutions geared towards recruitment (so they’ll be more agreeable with your ATS, are built with compliance in mind, and more comfortable to schedule out of, etc.), there are a lot of options.

Get Familiar with your Video Conferencing Tools

Become familiar with the video conferencing tools and practice using them before the interview to avoid any day-of technical glitches.

Choose the Right Location

You may be in a makeshift home office but take some time to scout out the perfect location in your home to conduct a video call—preferably one that is well-lit with natural light and quiet.

Give Candidates a Heads-up

Give candidates a heads-up via an email from your ATS or a personalized email from your recruiter. Let them know that you are trying out or adopting video interviewing and why. Explain the benefits: convenience, reduction in travel needs, health/safety (in this current Coronavirus environment).

Dress as You Would at the Office

While it’s tempting to stay in sweats when you’re working from home, interviewers and candidates should make an effort to look professional. We recommend dressing as you would for an in-person interview.

For more tips and information to help see your business through the new virtual working landscape, contact us today.

 

 

 

 

Why Taking Too Long to Hire is Big Mistake

Still, trying to staff that open position? Did you lose out on your top candidate to a competitor? You may be taking too long to make a hiring decision. Dragging your feet to present a job offer can turn candidates off. Here’s what candidates have to say about a lengthy recruitment process, according to a recent survey. Contact us for help landing the right skilled candidate for your team.

 

What’s the most frustrating part of the job search process?

54% of job seekers say it’s the long wait after the interview to hear back. Candidates want a clear timeline and regular updates during the hiring process. 

 

How long are you willing to wait after the interview to hear back?

23% of candidates will wait for just one week. 

 

How long is too long for the hiring process?

34% of job candidates say 7-14 days is too long.

 

What happens if the hiring process is too long?

57% of job-seekers lose interest in the job. 

 

You will lose most of the candidates who are in high demand during the late stages of your recruitment process if your hiring process is slow. When currently employed top performers decide to enter the job market; they are likely to be quickly inundated with recruiting requests and offers, which means that often they will only be on the job market for a matter of days. 

 

The speed of hire is most important when you are competing against other firms for currently employed “in-high-demand” top talent. If you wait too long the competition will take this top talent off the market before you have the time to make a hiring decision.

Surges in Demand for Healthcare Workers

Layoffs accelerate as the coronavirus disrupts the American economy. If the outbreak worsens, some 24 percent of employers plan to downsize according to a survey of business owners conducted March 7-13 by the wealth manager UBS.

It’s a different story in the healthcare sector; healthcare workers are in demand more than ever. The wave comes as hospitals prepare for an influx of patients with COVID-19, potentially squeezing an already tight labor supply. As of Wednesday morning, there are nearly 7, 3200 cases of COVD-19 confirmed in the U.S., but that number will undoubtedly grow as testing becomes more widely available.

Frontline healthcare workers who come in contact with infected patients and become ill or quarantined could take away more desperately needed nurses and physicians.

Glassdoor is reporting a 3x increase in job postings in the U.S. in locations closely related to the outbreak’s spread. The top-5 states for job openings accounting for 61 percent of open positions including California, Washington, and New York.

In the U.S., 32 percent of these jobs are being posted by employers by the government, healthcare, biotech, pharmaceuticals, and nonprofit industries. Openings for registered nurses, epidemiologists, down to call center or front-desk workers who are helping handle the influx of community questions are in high demand.

We have openings we need to fill today to help combat this pandemic. Contact us today.

The Immediate Rise of Remote Work Policies

As the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 spreads across parts of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the US, companies are quickly implementing remote work policies.

Major companies like Apple, Nestlé, Microsoft, Hitachi, and Chevron are asking workers to work remotely or are restricting all non-essential business travel as a precautionary measure against the rapidly-spreading disease.

Twitter announced it had joined the charge and changed its earlier guidance of “strongly encouraging work from home” to all 5,000 employees globally “must work from home.”

The CDC is recommending “that employers establish ‘nonpunitive’ policies, encouraging employees who are sick or exhibiting symptoms to stay at home,” per The New York Times.

If you do work an occupation that’s compatible with telecommuting but are unfamiliar with how to do it, here are some strategies to ease your transition to the home-office life.

Keep a regular schedule. Structure your day like you would in the office. To stay on schedule, segment what you’ll do and when over the day.

Choose a dedicated workspace. Twitter is offering reimbursement towards all home office set up expenses. For the best productivity, designate a room or surface in your home to work.

Get out of the house. Some days your home office might not be working for you. Coffee shops, libraries, or any WiFi-enabled public space can help stimulate the energy of an office.

Set-up remote meetings. Just because you’re not all sitting around a conference table doesn’t mean you still can’t set up and have productive meetings. Create and circulate an agenda ahead of the meeting and use video conferencing to connect.

Stay connected. Make sure you stay engaged and productive. Communicate frequently on the usual channels, e.g., Slack, email, phone, etc. but it also means communicating even more than usual about your projects and progress.

The ability to work from home has morphed into a highly valued perk and looks to continue to grow in popularity regardless of the Coronavirus pandemic. GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com data shows that regular work-at-home, among the non-self-employed population, has grown by 173% since 2005, 11% faster than the rest of the workforce. Telecommuting in the US has seen a 115% increase in the past decade.

Don’t have remote work policies in place? Contact our HR experts to help craft an airtight policy for your business.

Top Paying States for Registered Nurses

Nurses represent the largest single group of medical professionals. They are always on the frontline of patient care, which naturally gives this segment of the medical community a tremendous impact on patient experience as well as health outcomes. It is impossible to understate the important role that nurses play in healthcare.

Not surprisingly, nurses are in high demand not only for the vital role they play in patient care but there’s not enough of them. Employment as registered nurses are forecasted to rise by 12% from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the overall average for all jobs.

recent study by HR consulting firm Mercer found that the U.S. needs to hire 2.3 million new health care workers by 2025 to aid the country’s aging population. In addition to Baby Boomers’ higher demand for health care services as they live longer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics cites an increased emphasis on preventive care and growing rates of chronic conditions like diabetes and obesity as core reasons that are fueling the nursing industry’s growth.

The Top Paying States

Using occupational data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, we’ve analyzed and compiled a round-up of the average salary of a registered nurse in each U.S. state for 2019.

  1. California: $106, 950
  2. Hawaii: $98, 080
  3. Massachusetts: $92, 140
  4. Oregon: $91, 080
  5.  Alaska: $89,310
  6.  Nevada: $85,620
  7.  New York: $85,610
  8.  New Jersey: $82,750
  9.  Washington: $82,670
  10. Connecticut: $81,220

New York City reports the highest wages for RNs ($79,463), according to PayScale. According to the BLS, California holds all 10 of the top-paying metropolitan areas. Still, RNs can find lucrative positions across the country, with Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Oregon among the top-paying states for RNs.

Nursing salaries grow with experience, as well. PayScale reports an almost $20,000 gain in pay from entry-level jobs to late-career nurses. Some of the skills employers seek include telemetry, critical care, intensive care unit, and labor and delivery. Acute care and emergency room skills may also boost registered nurse salaries.

Contact INNOVA People today for our healthcare opportunities in these top-paying states.

Microsoft Japan’s 4-Day Workweek Experiment Boosts Productivity by Nearly 40%

Recently, Microsoft Japan experimented with a four-day workweek. While the concept was widely popular with employees, the results may come as a surprise to anyone who buys into the idea that more time at work is the best way to boost productivity. 

Last August, Microsoft Japan carried out a project called the “Work-Life Choice Challenge Summer 2019”. For one month, the tech giant implemented a three-day weekend every week, giving 2,300 employees every Friday off during the month with no reduction in salary and no days taken out of their annual leave. Further, The Mainichi reported that Microsoft Japan also announced that they planned to subsidize employees’ education, or even a family vacation, up to ¥100,000.

“Work a short time, rest well, and learn a lot. It’s necessary to have an environment that allows you to feel your purpose in life and make a greater impact at work,” said Microsoft Japan president and CEO Takuya Hirano. “I want employees to think about and experience how they can achieve the same results, with 20 percent less working time.” 

The new workweek model challenged employees and managers to find ways to get more done in less time. Meetings were shortened, cut, or conducted remotely so to eliminate the commute. As reported by the Asian news site, SorelNews24the trial resulted in an incredible 40 percent increase in productivity.  

Employees didn’t feel as much need to take time off during the trial, which helped improve productivity rates. Microsoft Japan’s workforce took 25 percent less time off than they did before the four-day workweek experiment began. 

Other welcomed changes, employees printed almost 60 percent fewer pages and used 23 percent less electricity in the office since it was empty an extra day. Changes that not only saved Microsoft Japan money but are a welcomed benefit for the environment. 

It may seem obvious; it’s also worth noting that 91 percent of employees said they liked the four-day workweek at the end of the trial. Microsoft Japan reportedly plans to repeat its 4-day work week experiment next summer, and possibly expand it to other times as well.

Other businesses apparently have found their results compelling enough to give it a try. In the U.S., Shake Shack started testing the idea a year and a half ago. The burger chain shortened managers’ workweeks to four days at some stores and found that recruitment spiked, especially among women.

Shake Shack’s president, Tara Comonte, told NPR the staff loved the perk: “Being able to take their kids to school a day a week, or one day less of having to pay for daycare, for example.”

The company recently expanded its trial to a third of its 164 U.S. stores.