Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for the love of it.” – Henry David Thoreau.
In the recruitment industry, competition has always been acquiring the top tier talents. In most cases, the recruiter hires the candidate having a resume brimming with skill sets. But does that fulfill the intrinsic needs of the organization? The degrees on the resume do speak of the hard skills of the candidate, but the soft skills like effective communication, team spirit, etc. cannot be assessed just by going through a resume.
The right mindset plays a crucial role when you look for quality hires. Employees having the appropriate skill sets along with the right mindset ensures the sustainability and growth of the organization.
Skillset vs. Mindset
If there are 100 candidates, 75 of them will have the right skill sets. But if you are looking for 5 quality hires, how will you assess the candidates? Out of these 75 candidates, 25 are top graduates. If you want to ensure quality hires, you must check out which of the 25 candidates have the right mindset that can actually lead to your company’s growth. In this cut-throat competition, you will always find a large number of people who have the right skill sets.
But why is the right mindset essential for growth?
A candidate having good communication skill ensures smooth execution of operations
The flexibility of employees ensures better team performance
Commitment to deadlines is crucial virtue that cannot be taught
Loyalty to the organization can save your back in the worst situation
An improved working environment guarantees better productivity
How to ensure quality hires with the right mindset?
Skills can be taught, but the mindset of employees cannot be mold. The expression of mindset is through the attitude. Therefore, when a recruiter is looking for the right mindset, the candidate must be analyzed based on his/ her attitude.
Assess the candidate’s interest to engage
Indeed, you will be greeted with an obligatory smile when you are interviewing someone for a job. But what makes the difference between a candidate with the right mindset to stand out in the crowd is his/her attitude towards the interview and company. Therefore, as a recruiter, always check if the candidate is interested in engaging himself.
Check if the candidate’s goal aligns with that of the company’s
If you want your hires to vouch for the substantiality, in the long run, make sure you do not hire the one who just performs his tasks to just earn money without any interest in the company’s goal. In talent acquisition, it is essential to make quality hires whose goals align with the company’s agenda. Surely, a candidate with the right mindset and attitude can work whole-heartedly for the organization without just limiting his thoughts to his salary.
Background check with the candidate’s previous company
A background check is usually a routine thing while recruiting. However, instead of just viewing the company’s name, it’s always better to inquire about the candidate from the company. This will surely provide you a clearer vision of the candidate’s mindset and attitude.
Stress tests
Stress tests have been neglected even though it comes as a significant step in the selection process. It is under real stress that people show their true colors. As a recruiter, you can get a glimpse of how the candidate reacts. Indeed stress tests help you assess the mindset and attitude.
Final Thoughts
Talent acquisition in the recruitment industry is challenging, especially if you are looking for quality hires with the perfect blend of the right skills and right mindset. It is essential to ensure that every employee has the right attitude and frame of mind to help organization grow. Recruiters have to be tactical to ensure that every hire does have the right attitude and mindset along with required skillset.
“Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.” W. C. Fields
Pragna offers you the best assistance when it comes to recruiting the perfect blend of skills and mindset. Our comprehensive selection and recruitment process ensure that every hire is a quality hire for your company. For more information please visit our website www.pragna.net.
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” Steve Jobs has been a great leader not only for Apple but also for every aspiring entrepreneur. When we talk about leaders, we always portray a strong and confident person who gives us hope to rise every time we stoop down or stumble over an obstacle. Remember how the most exemplary guy in your school was chosen as the head boy? Well, nothing has changed in the larger picture. Every organization decides its leaders carefully to ensure the growth of the organization. You can become the leader as well if you adopt some of the leadership attributes needed during challenging times.
In this era of the pandemic, the economy is sliding down every passing day. You must be amazed at how a leader can effectively change the scenario. Here are some leadership lessons for hard times that you must learn.
Motivation is key to productivity
A leader should have personal attributes like self-confidence, communication, ability to make decisions, etc. A ‘successful’ leader is the one who has the potential to motivate each member of his team. You may be surprised how just a compliment from the leader can boost the productivity of the employee. Therefore, a leader motivating employee in tough economic times becomes the need of the moment. If you want to emerge as a leader, never fail to boost your employees’ morale.
Lateral thinking can be the game-changer
Lateral thinking is a key attribute that every leader must possess. It is all about thinking out of the box. Every subject or situation has a conventional approach; a lateral thinking leader is the one who can break through this traditional course of thinking and bring out a creative approach of looking at the issue and solving it. For instance, Gillette has utilized an innovative way of marketing. They follow a strategy of making their products obsolete to replace it with their own new products. In this way, they successfully cut down their competitors. Lateral thinking is the creative and innovative way to investigate the mundane issues to bring out a new approach to resolve them. This leadership skill is crucial for facing the challenges and turning them into strengths. Just like ‘if life gives you lemons, make lemonade’.
Establish bond of trust
Trust building is an essential leadership skill that can become the key to the unexpected growth of an organization. You may have always seen that every great leader was surrounded by people who trusted him. Yes, this attribute can be beneficial in both ways. If you can establish a bond of trust between you and your employees, you will surely notice how it affects you as well as their productivity. Especially during this time of self-isolation, every employee needs to deal with stress due to remote work. If you want to emerge as a leader now, you must establish a trust bond to influence their productivity instead of just dumping your burden on them. Trust building activities not only enhance employees’ confidence but also their loyalty to the organization.
Empathy can reap sweeter fruit
Jack Welch once said, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” Leadership is not about growing individually but growing as a team or organization. You may not be born with leadership skills, but you can acquire them with perseverance. Creative thinking, open communication, or bonding – each of this leadership skill can lead you to the best version of yourself as a leader. As a leader, you are bound to confront new challenges, but your skills can mold you to become the most outstanding leader.
Compassion is an attribute that every leader must possess to combat the challenges of tough times. A successful leader always listens to his employees to gain a better understanding. You must learn to be empathetic if you want to ace leadership skills during these tough times.
There will be situations when you can blame your employee or publicly criticize them. A successful leader will not take those steps; instead, talk to the employee personally. Just the empathetic approach towards your employee can boost their morale and turn them into an asset for the organization.
Strategize with a clear vision
Having a clear far-sighted vision is a significant leadership attribute during challenging times. As a leader, you may have to face several challenges due to the falling economy. It is your turn to take up the responsibilities and strategize with a clear vision. A leader’s clear vision can help to develop objectives for every level of the organization. Formulating strategies to combat the upcoming challenges requires far-sighted vision. In fact, a successful leader knows how to balance short term and long-term goals.
Open communication
When talking about leadership attributes, you cannot miss out on open communication on the list. According to statistics, 57% of employees fail to perform to their full potential due to the lack of open and clear communication with their leaders. Therefore, a successful leader must have effective communication skills to convey every vital information to his employees. Brainstorming sessions can be an effective way for leaders to practice with their team to bring out innovative solutions.
Lead with excellence
Leaders become examples for the employees. If you are always late, you cannot expect your employees to be punctual. The “walk the talk” philosophy is still something every successful leader has followed in his life. A successful leader never fails to inspire his teammates. In fact, a good leader always pushes his teammates for growth. Leadership does not mean exploiting power. In contrast, leadership is all about taking up responsibilities, following your own rules, and creating a benchmark of excellence to inspire others. So, if you want to become a successful leader, do not just command but lead by example.
Do you possess any of the leadership skills? Let us know how you have evolved as a leader in your life in the comments below.
The process of making an employment offer to a candidate may seem a simple task at first glance. But do you know critical factors based on which applicants are weighing job offers. A recent study proves that salary isn’t the only factor that candidate looks for in a job offer.
The key to a creating a successful job offer extension is to consider it as a process that starts from the very second you start engaging a potential candidate. As employers, we all experienced that annoying feeling that comes along after finding a great candidate and rolling out a job offer and then the candidate reacting to it with unwillingness, taking too long to respond or even accepting a counter offer.
A compelling offer is anything that makes your organization and position stand above all other potential competitors in the market. Here are the tips to keep in mind while creating an offer that candidates just can’t resist:
Gather Information
This might seem simple, but it is one of the most commonly made mistake while making a job offer, lack of details and rolling out offer too early in the process. Most offer rejections happen just because hiring manager doesn’t know the candidate sufficiently. During the interviewing rounds, make a conscious effort to know the candidate well and note the key information points. A couple of must have notes is the candidate’s desired start date, financial outlooks, ability and willingness to commute to the office etc.
Apply the standard 10% rule
Generally, professionals expect a minimum of 10 to 15 percent increase in salary when they switch to new job. You noted down their present salary during the interview, so while making an offer keep this in mind that you will just get a tepid response if the amounts on table is less than 10 to 15 percent. But sometimes less salary can be compensated with additional bonus, healthcare, investment or lifestyle benefits, also highlighting your work culture, flexible work arrangements can act as a sweet topping on your offer which candidates just don’t want to miss.
Act Fast to Make an Offer
If you’ve made a decision and found your right fir then why wait? Time is always ticking on your head if you don’t act fast then you will miss out your found treasure, because in a down economy exceptional talent is rare. Reach out to candidate soon after they are interviewed and turn their interview anxiety into enthusiasm of cracking it successfully. This will ease the candidate’s stress during the post-interview waiting period. While informing the candidate don’t forget to mention how he was best among the whole lot of other candidates, show that you are thrilled to make them a part of your team.
Follow Up in Writing
Most important, many candidates don’t believe an offer to be real until it’s sent in writing. Then put your words in an email or letter. Clearly lay out all the elements in the offer letter including job title, base salary, benefits, vacation, holidays, perks, etc. Once the offer is sent to the candidate, don’t forget to follow up at least once a week until the start date. The risk of candidate backing out last minute is slightly high if the time period between acceptance and start is longer.
Set a deadline
Make sure to you set a deadline for the candidate to accept the offer. A three-day deadline is typical but if the candidate takes too long to respond then its not a good sign. Follow up again and ask the right questions to discover if you still can expect a positive response or candidate has made other plans in mind to do offer shopping.
Finding the right candidate in today’s competitive employment market is tough, you should be prepared to entice top talent at all levels in the recruitment cycle. And when you found the perfect fit for your job opening don’t risk losing out on them. Streamlined job offer process is one of the most important steps which includes designing a well-tailored offer letter that address the candidate’s needs, wants and pain points and is just too irresistible. The above discussed tips will definitely help you make a compelling and effective job offer and results in positive experiences that compel best talent to join your company.
Over a period of time, employees’ preferences and requirements have evolved, and it is often challenging for companies to keep pace with. Employers are pounded with a great range of contemporary tips for keeping different generations of employees happy. But when it involves attracting and retaining best talent, employers should understand what employees actually need from an organization. While we all know that competitive pay package and great company benefits is one of the factor into an employee’s decision to consider a position at the company , there are many other important factors that are more important than a paycheck.
In order to, enjoy their jobs, employees must feel that their employers respect them and must be able to provide them with what they need to be successful in both their professional and private lives.
Below are some important lists of things to look for in a company:
Do the company’s values align with yours?
One of the key things to consider when researching potential employers is how their values align with yours. Because working for a company is lot more important than just spending time in a company. It’s about knowing and understanding that the company values some of the similar things (like honesty, integrity and hard work) and understanding how those values match up together with your own. You must feel that you simply and your potential employer represent similar things which you’ll build an enduring relationship.
Does the corporate culture suit your personality?
Many companies put cultural fit as the most necessary thing they look for when interviewing candidates and you must showcase this in your top priority list. for instance , if you’re comfortable in a more relaxed environment than a traditional one, then a company with a corporate culture won’t be a right fit you. Before you accept the provide letter, take the time to analyse how you’d fit in that company and how the company culture would suit you .
Are the team members people you’d like to work with?
Whether it’s a full-time job or an internship, you will be spending lot of your time together with your new co-workers, so it’s very crucial to make sure that they’re people you’d wish to work with. This goes concurrently with cultural fit and it’s something you must to remember when you considering a new opportunity. the average American spends around one-third of every weekday at work, so having co-workers you get along with might be a key a part of being happy at your job.
Will you be offered opportunities to learn?
Getting the chance to learn new things is key in any position, but it’s especially important during the beginning of your career. Therefore, finding an internship or full-time job that let you to find learn as much possible is vital in the event of your career.
The growth within the company?
Besides offering opportunities to learn about the industry, a great organization should also provide opportunities for growth within the organization. This is really important in the case of internships and full time entry level jobs because the opportunity for a promotion may be a great incentive to your career and prove your dedication to the team.
You to feel appreciated and valued?
When you feel appreciated at your workplace, it is another crucial part of your work life experience. Also it doesn’t necessarily mean that there should be a company-supported parties, happy hours or free lunches, it does mean that your employer should cause you to feel valued by offering positive feedback and encouraging your efforts to find out and improve.
Does the corporate offer security and stability?
Another important aspect of a company is that it can offer employees a secure and stable environment. This doesn’t mean that getting a regular monthly pay check in your account, but also a proven history of stable success and a sense of job security. However, it’s unrealistic to expect solid track record all the time, but good consistency in achieving growth and stats, shows that the company can provide you with the right kind of environment you like to succeed.
So, next time when you appear for an interview, you will be having dozens of answers ready to choose company rather than just pay check.
Most of the small business and start-ups don’t have time to focus their time and energy on employer branding. It is one of the most ignored and challenged that small businesses and start up face, as their journey of growth become competitive when they look out for high quality employees. Many of these small businesses and start-ups are struggling and competing to find same talent as much larger and well established organizations.
Taking the time to build a solid employer branding and recruitment strategy can play a significant role in a start-up’s success. Did you know that 23% of start-ups fail due to not having the right team? With strong employer brand it will be much easier to attract and hire the best candidates, which substantially improve your business outcomes. Below are some of the reasons why you should build out your employer brand.
Define a clear mission
Before you’ll build an employer brand, you would like to understand what your company represents. This indicates that what you would like to convey to people looking for job and the stakeholders.
Creating a mission statement will connect your team and working toward one common goal also to attract job seekers who believe in your objective or purpose. The core values of the company facilitate your team, understand the way to prioritize efforts and accomplish your mission. They’ll also additionally assist your team vet prospective candidates to envision if their values align with those of your team.
Both mission and core values are going to be guiding forces for your employer brand, thus it’s necessary to determine them early. Collect feedback from each one of your employee to make sure you’ve gained a majority agreement on how each is defined. Share your finalized versions together with your entire team so they’re on board and well prepared to support your efforts.
Define Your Company Culture
Company culture may be a bit harder to outline than your mission and values because there are many elements that make up culture. According to study, 46% of candidates say that a company’s culture plays a very crucial role in their decision to even apply for a position; it’s in employer interest to refine and communicate culture in branding efforts.
Additionally, startup culture in and of itself is completely different from that of larger organizations. There are only a few hurdles between the C-suite and individual contributors, as a result of many of us are juggling multiple roles. Together everybody plays an important role in creating the kind of company culture. For loads of job seekers, the conventional startup mentality of work hard, play hard is what attracts them to younger, unsystematic companies.
There’s no right or wrong culture, however take the time to outline and define it. This might strengthen your company in the long term and assist you in creating an employer brand that draws precisely the sorts of people you would like to on board.
By communicating your company culture through your employer branding efforts, leads to attract candidates which will increase your company culture.
Promote Your Vision
People wish to be a part of next great success of the company; but when you’re in the early stages, brand awareness will be an issue. It’s up to you to convey who you’re and how do you inspire job seekers to apply for open roles.
Roll out your short term and long-term goals in your employer branding and make candidates to get thrilled joining the company and keep candidates in the loop once your team hits milestones and as new candidates are part of.
Remain Transparent
For many of people stepping into startup is a daunting task. Because there may not be a guarantee of job security, also there could be expectations to spend long hours or the requirement to handle multiple projects.
Be honest and showcase this in branding materials and job descriptions on specifically what you would like and expect from the future staff. In this way, new hires won’t experience culture shock because of miscommunication during hiring process and eventually you’ll retain the good candidates that you put great efforts to attract.
Bring a light on the fun and wacky side of your culture and value proposition of employees by showcasing through photos of your team outings, workplace area and celebrations. Get folks excited once you reach milestones that bring you closer to achieving your mission.
Establish Your Employer Value Proposition
The employer value proposition (EVP), is analogous to the distinctive value proposition you utilize while pitching to customers and investors. The difference is that with an EVP you’re in fact that you concentrate on the employee experience, instead of the value of the product or service. Some startups will overpromise, which ends up in new hires leaving or quitting early, therefore try to avoid that.
Your value proposition could be different and that’s totally fine, just confirm that you’ve got one that’s well aligned together with your company.
Create a Strong Career Page
Potential candidates can review the web site to make their decisions/choices; therefore startup has to make sure that it includes a solid career page. For example if we look at Slack’s career page is so great, however there are other examples from smaller, less popular firms you must look into it.
Building a better employer brand for startup takes time, however if you focus to work on it.
At the beginning stage and when the cash flow starts the company will be in a better position to attract right candidates who will help you to take your company to new heights.
These entire recommendations and suggestions are just the beginning as you begin to establish your employer branding. Creating a better environment that has potential to attract high level talent is an ongoing process, that needs a commitment throughout the organization.
Diversity is imperative to all workplaces. People with completely different backgrounds and experiences, who come close together as a team, will develop innovative ideas that may keep your company alive and thriving. Despite this, companies in many industries and roles are not benefiting from this because they are dominated by a single-sex. For example, tech industry roles are typically filled by men, while nursing roles are typically filled by women. In each case, the customers are more diverse than the people serving them, which don’t bode well for understanding their needs. To better serve your customers, it’s important to cultivate gender diversity within the work.
Gender diversity doesn’t imply that an organization should have a 50/50 mix of males and females for every position in the company. However, it does mean that all the roles should have a fair representation of both sexes at every level in the company.
As leaders, we can employ a range of strategies to improve gender diversity in the workplace.
1. Encourage an inclusive and respectful culture
A survey report points out that though women connected with a lot of everyday slights and disrespectful behavior than men, 58 percent of all employees expertise some kind of micro aggression, suggesting incivility is common at work.
If things need to change, then it can’t just be about driving the culture and values of the company but also highlighting and communicating that there is no room for sexual harassment, disrespect, or bias, and when needed, stringent action will be taken. Communicate, communicate, communicate this a thousand times over, and start at the top.
2. Build a comprehensive workplace
Before making an attempt to hire for gender diversity, look at intervals and appraise your company culture. Is your company a decent place to figure despite gender? Do you treat people across the gender spectrum equally? Consult your employees to learn how you can build a more inclusive workplace, and put in the work to continually improve your company culture. An inclusive culture can facilitate build your employer brand, so you can attract and retain a diverse workforce
3. Restructure your pay and benefits program
To make your company as engaging as potential to a broader range of individual people, you want to erase pay difference between men and women within the same positions.
One way to try and do this is often to prevent asking a few candidate’s previous wage and offer the same pay range to every potential employee, no matter of what they made in an earlier position. Considering that asking candidates regarding their wage history is already prohibited in some states, this is good practice anyway.
When it involves to advantages, studies conjointly show that women in specifically value robust, family-oriented perks once seeking a new job. This means you should be as generous as possible with family leave, health insurance, remote work and flexible hours.
4. Analyze exit interviews
Exit interviews are useful to understand why people are leaving, so you can improve how you hire and retain talent. If you’re working toward gender diversity within the workplace, you‘ll conjointly poke into your differences in why men and women are leaving your organization. This can provide insights that are unique to your company, and allow you to monitor your progress over time. If, for example, you learn that women are less satisfied with compensation than men, you’ll take steps to enhance your compensation strategy and see however perceptions change over a year.
5. Reserve equal seats for women in a boardroom meeting
The higher they’re going; a lot of women realize themselves alone within the room, which typically makes them feel isolated. Companies need to stop having just two women in the boardroom because it checks a box. According to the report, companies need to examine and explore how they can move women through their organization.
The report explains, “One approach is to hire and promote women in cohorts; another is to cluster women on teams. As opposed to staffing one woman on several of teams, companies should consider putting groups of two to three women on teams together.”
And in to move far from reinforcing gender stereotypes, it recommends thinking twice before clustering women in functions traditionally dominated by women, like human resources and communications.
It additionally recommends making opportunities for the “only” women in a room to connect with other alternative women and to foster additional women’s networking teams inside organization.
Above discussed strategies are the few things companies can do for gender diversity and make more money while doing so. Promoting inclusiveness and variety at your workplace is one of the most effective ways that foster an open-minded, global company culture. Not only does this make good business sense serving your company to better understanding colleagues, clients, and customers around the world it additionally makes the workplace a lot interesting and personally enriching environment for everyone.
