Industry News

Nov 04 2020

This year has been filled with multiple valuable lessons, particularly the importance of partnering with a staffing agency. No one could have imagined the workload that HR managers would be dealing with this year. Human resource departments across the nation have been busy between creating social distancing protocols, implementing DEI initiatives, and handling company layoffs. It’s no wonder why staffing partners are an essential part of scaling HR department recruitment efforts. As we quickly approach the new year, we want to take some time to look back at the staffing industry and how they saved hiring for 2020.

Unemployment Rate Similar To The Great Depression

Last year, Americans witnessed an unemployment rate under 4 percent. Although there were more open jobs than unemployed people, the country was thriving, and applicants were in control of the employment economy. After businesses were forced to close down for months, we quickly saw the unemployment rate increase to 14.7 percent by April of 2020. While Americans struggled to find work due to mandates, hiring managers leaned on recruiters to strategize new ways to source talent from a larger candidate pool. Between social media, utilizing recruitment platforms, creating virtual hiring events, and following up with once passive candidates who may be interested in new job opportunities, recruiters had their work cut out for them.

Fortunately, their tactics worked and helped companies capitalize on the opportunity to connect with top tier candidates and build successful teams. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the unemployment rate has taken a massive decrease, staying at a steady 7.9 percent as companies continue to partner with staffing firms specific to their industry. This extension to their business gives human resource departments more time to focus on covid-19 related issues that require new protocols and game plans to tackle.

Easier Recruitment Strategy Thanks To Technology

Work from home orders has created a new way that recruiters connect with applicants. While some companies still require candidates to come in person for an interview, the majority of companies across the nation have switched to virtual meetings and check-ins. Believe it or not, there are still a handful of companies out there that do not use an applicant tracking system, and one can only assume that if they aren’t using an ATS, their HR department may not be that tech-savvy. As our economy slowly begins to increase, the last thing any company needs is a slow recruitment process.

Companies that have partnered with full-service staffing firms have been able to lean on their extended network to oversee the electronic onboarding process, virtual hiring, and additional back-office needs. Essentially hiring managers have saved more time and got new hires to work instantly, all while implementing covid-19 guidelines.

More Temporary Workers Less Overhead

While parents play multiple roles assisting with e-learning and maintaining full-time jobs, managers have become more supportive and flexible when scheduling employees for work. Also, companies have bulked up on contingent workers to jump in when needed. A recent study by Gartner found that 32% of companies are shifting a portion of their workforce from full-time employees to contingent workers as a strategy to reduce overhead costs. Staffing firms take the hassle out of investing in full-time employees, giving companies a more cost-effective solution when adding to their team.

We’ll continue to keep our eye out for staffing trends, but let’s face it, without industry-specific staffing firms, who knows how companies would be able to bounce back from the pandemic. Recruitment partners have become the glue to keeping HR departments together and are an essential part of the business. Interested in a staffing partnership? Contact us today to learn more.

Aug 26 2020

The hospitality industry took a drastic turn this year due to the Pandemic, impacting staffinglevels, and budgets. In response, companies are taking a new approach and implementing newprocesses for the safety of employees. Here are three ways companies adapt to the new normaland maintain the hospitality industry’s flow.

Sanitation – Companies are improving their safety and health protocols in response to the CDC requirements. These include reducing density and abiding by social distancing guidelines. Easily accessible sanitation stations are throughout the facilities to be utilized 24/7 and readily available protective gear for employees, including face masks and face shields. To learn more, the CDC has created a step by step manual on how to Clean and Disinfect Your Facility.
Technology – In addition to temperature checks before entering facilities, companies have created unique ways to interact with guests to ensure safety. Companies are moving to contactless check-ins with automation and fast-tracking technologies such as digital keys and voice-activated digital assistants. This way, businesses can minimize contact between guests and staff amid the coronavirus pandemic. Social media has also been an excellent way for companies to keep up engagement with guests and employees. Since we’ve transitioned out of the applicant’s economy, companies have been focusing on unique ways to maximize their brand and tell their story to attract top tier talent.
Staffing – There has been a spike in staffing as companies recruit to build a pipeline of qualified candidates to keep in the rotation for newly opened roles. Staffing firms have utilized technology to create a contactless recruitment process by sourcing applicants from the leading job platforms and social media, quickly moving them through an applicant tracking system and conducting virtual interviews. This contactless process keeps future hires engaged with features like text reminders, digital onboarding, and email capability. It has also allowed companies to interact with active and passive job seekers with new or future employment opportunities.

Although the year started rocky, things are slowly improving for the hospitality industry, and employees are ready to get back to work. Here at Barnett Management, safety is our number one priority. We take extra precaution in our staff’s health, and due to that, we require a complete health screening before sending an employee off to their new opportunity. Having been in the staffing industry since 1999, we have built a healthy pipeline of over 1,500 qualified candidates who are locally sourced and fully trained. We have a team of dedicated professionals who are ready to handle your recruitment needs. Whether it consists of staffing or HR admin, we’re here to lend a helping hand. Contact us today to learn more.

Jul 01 2020

As employees begin to return to work after nationwide shutdowns and work from home orders, companies are navigating the aftermath and discovering ways to ensure the health and safety of their employees. Here at Barnett Management, our temporary workers’ safety and well-being are paramount to us, as is the safety and well-being of your employees. Therefore, we have advised our temporary employees about how to take care of themselves, protect others, and monitor the latest developments of COVID-19.

We understand it can be scary to think of returning to work and becoming sick. That’s why when discussing how to remain safe when returning to work amid the pandemic, it’s also important to understand how COVID-19 is spread.

By direct contact with an infected person
When infected respiratory droplets from a cough, a sneeze, talking, laughing, singing or breathing fall to surfaces that are then touched by another person
When smaller infected droplets, also known as aerosols, stay suspended in the air for several minutes and are inhaled or ingested by others

To ensure the safety, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we have advised employees to:

Avoid close contact with people who are sick
Avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth
Stay home when they are sick
Cover their cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash
Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe
Follow CDC’s recommendations for using aface mask and social distancing
Wash their hands often

We also have encouraged our temporary workers to keep up-to-date on developments by visiting the About Coronavirus Disease 2019 and CDC’s Frequently Asked Questions and Answers webpages.

Barnett Management is committed to reducing the risk of infection for our temporary workers and your employees. In addition to our employees being healthy, we also want to ensure they are in safe working environments. Companies can help prevent the spread of COVID -19 by:

Improving sanitation and deep cleaning protocols
Consider changing the layout of the workspace
Put in place guidelines for the use of personal protective equipment

Should you wish to discuss returning to work or have any questions, please let us know. We are here for you every step of the way.

Aug 15 2017

Temporary help jobs rose by 13,400 in June from May and the temp penetration rate reached an all-time high for the third month in a row, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today’s revised data also increased May’s previously reported gain of 12,900 US temp jobs to a gain of 16,800.

In addition, the year-over-year growth rate in temp jobs was 4.74% in June, down from 4.94% in May but still the largest second-largest year-over-year growth rate since June 2015.

The temp penetration rate — temp jobs as a percent of total employment — rose to a record-high 2.070% in June from 2.064% in May.

“Despite being in the latter stages of an economic expansion, the temporary penetration rate continues to reach new heights,” said Tony Gregoire, director of research, the Americas, at Staffing Industry Analysts.

Total nonfarm jobs rose by 222,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% in June from 4.3% in May. The college-level unemployment rate — which can serve as a proxy for professional employment — edged up to 2.4% in June from 2.3% in May.

Bloomberg reports that while payroll gains were broad-based and boosted by the biggest jump in government jobs in almost a year, wages were below forecasts, even with the jobless rate close to the lowest since 2001.

The Conference Board noted the strong job growth in June and the upward revisions for May and April suggest that the concerns about a major slowdown in job growth were premature.

“If monthly employment growth remains at the 150,000-200,000 range, the labor market will continue to rapidly tighten, given the slow growth in labor supply,” The Conference Board stated. “Wage growth may resume accelerating later in the year.”

Solid employment growth and a tightening labor market are likely to support household spending moving forward, according to The Conference Board. In such an environment, the Fed is unlikely to have second thoughts about normalizing interest rates and two additional rate hikes in 2017 are not out of the question.

“The report shows a small uptick in the labor force participation rate, a welcome development for the economy,” according to Express Employment Professionals CEO Bob Funk.

“It’s good to see even this small increase in the labor force participation rate,” Funk said. “Businesses are having a hard time finding workers. It’s important for people to get off the sidelines and into the workforce.”

“Today’s jobs report shows the significant pressure that companies are under to attract, acquire and retain skilled employees,” Randstad Sourceright CEO Rebecca Henderson said in a statement. “It is this growing talent gap that is bolstering the use of contingent labor, which almost half of the human capital leaders we recently surveyed said accounts for as much as 40% of the total workforce.”

Henderson also noted the BLS’ next survey of contingent and alternative employment arrangements in the US workforce — expected to be released later this year — is likely to indicate a dramatic shift to a more flexible workforce in the US and demonstrate how companies are able to keep growing despite low unemployment figures.

ARTICLE SOURCE: Staffing Industry

Aug 10 2017

The thing about talent trends posts is that if it were possible to predict the future of recruiting and HR, we’d probably have figured out some way to make it suck a little less. Of course, the glacial pace of change in these parts means that for the indeterminate present, 2017 Is shaping up to be same shit, different year.

I’m aware that trends posts are, well, trendy – and acknowledge that there’s no real need for me (or anyone else) to contribute more content to this canon of crap. But with so many “thought leaders” (read: cat ladies who tweet all day, “futurists,” #hashtagenthusiasts) and “influencers” (read: snarky bloggers, self-righteous douchebags, unemployed trolls) effusively adding to the effluence, I couldn’t help but weigh in. Because it seems when predicting what’s new and what’s next, opinions, like shit, rolls uphill.

Sadly, I’m not a futurist. I’m not an expert. Hell, I’m not particularly well informed, and certainly not self-righteous enough to authoritatively suggest I have any better idea than anyone else what’s coming around the corner in HR and recruiting.

This isn’t an industry where consensus comes easy, and I’d be ignorant to presume that any recruiter needs to know anything (other than maybe calculating commission).

Also, since these are basically educated guesses, if you disagree with me, well, you’re probably right. Since I’m unable to see the future – if I could, I’d make different choices to avoid having to write about recruiting and HR on the internet al day – these completely prosaic predictions are probably going to be proven wrong.

But if I’m right, this time next year, you better bet you’ll be seeing this post again.

If not, the one prediction I promise will come true is that I’ll be forced to write another one of these specious and spurious “talent trends to watch” posts this time next year. Sigh.

7 for 2017: Top Talent Trends To Watch.

7. The Death of HR Technology.

Well, not really – it’s just that with mainstream consumer tech players like Microsoft, Adobe and Facebook dipping their toes in the HR Tech market, It seems likely that the current darling of the VC scene will be a victim of its own success, subsumed into the broader enterprise technology suite where HR is no longer an independent category, but rather an integrated feature set or end user functionality for broader business software and systems.

6. Recruiting and Retention Collide:

It’s no secret that internal transfers and promotions have long constituted the single most successful source of hire, with existing employees representing over half of all successful candidates in 2016, online or otherwise.

Despite the average public job posting attracting a scant 3.7 internal applicants versus an average of over 200 external applicants (mostly from job boards or other online sources), those internal applicants constituted exactly 50% of all candidates selected for interviews – meaning that internal applicants are a staggering 131 times more likely to become final candidates than blind external applicants.

Voluntary turnover is obscenely expensive for employers, with 1 in 5 total compensation and salary dollars spent by an employer every year going to the costs of recruiting and onboarding backfills.

It’s almost cliché to talk about your jobs as “opportunities,” or talk about how you promote from within, develop your people or offer your employees room to develop and grow (personally and professionally). But while these are cornerstones of career site copy and employer brand collateral, if we fail to deliver on that promise, then we shouldn’t be surprised at the revolving door that neglecting these areas – a poll found only 28% of Fortune 500 CHROs report having any sort of formal internal mobility plan – will inevitably create.

If we know why employees leave companies, then it should be easy to nip the problem at the bud. The number one reason job seekers reported looking for new opportunities in one 2016 poll? Lack of advancement and promotion opportunities.

Doesn’t take a genius to build this business case. Recruiting is only required when retention fails – and making sure it succeeds is why in the coming year, retention will increasingly be a focal point for recruiters and talent organizations, instead of the exclusive purview of HR Generalists or business partners.

5. Referral Madness.

Here are some fun facts: referrals have outperformed all other external sources of hire for over a decade – in fact, ever since Career XRoads first started tracking this critical metric. Companies are increasingly incorporating formalized referral programs and initiatives in order to leverage this low risk, high reward source of hire.

In 2017, referrals will go a step further, moving from being perceived as an irregular, highly manual and one-off process into a critical success metric for employers and recruiters alike. Referrals are 400 times more likely than applicants with no previous relationship with a company to get hired, and even the most lucrative payouts pale in comparison to the costs of contingent or executive search.

Referrals are, essentially, an employer net promoter score – effectively, it’s that Glassdoor question of “would you recommend this as a place for your friends and family to work?” That score should provide a critical metric when measuring organizational health and employee engagement – it’s basically the talent version of NPS.

Not convinced? Not only are referrals more likely to get hired, they stay around longer, too: fully 47% of referred candidates last at least four years, compared to a scant 2% of job board candidates. This next year, employers will finally discover it’s not what you know, it’s who you know, that really matters most in recruiting and hiring.

4. Robots Aren’t Taking Our Jobs.

I’ve written about how artificial intelligence in recruiting and hiring is really dumb, but equally asinine is the idea that somehow, our industry’s move towards algorithms and automation somehow represent a threat to the future viability of the HR and recruiting professions. This, of course, is complete bullshit (dedicated sourcers, on the other hand…)

The MIT Technology Review has created a four question survey to easily determine the ease with which a robot could replace a human worker. They are:

Do You Need To Come Up With Clever Solutions? Does Your Job Require You To Squeeze Into Tight Spaces? Are You Required to Personally Help Others? And, finally, “Does Your Job Require Negotiation?”

Those four fundamental litmus tests pretty much sounds like HR and recruiting – meaning that the talent profession won’t be going anywhere any time soon. In fact, HR Directors ranked 266 out of 344 job families surveyed to determine the likelihood of redundancy via robots (or automation, if you like).

So while it’s OK to get excited about AI and machine learning, remember: they can augment and enhance what you do, but the data suggests they’re a long way away from ever replacing humans in human resources.

3. Data Privacy: The New Compliance Frontier.

HR Generalists and people leaders have an almost obsessive fixation on compliance, embracing obscure acronyms like OFCCP, EOE, AA and GINA while often using these regulations as a way to justify the minimal risks and maximum stasis that has long defined the profession.

The times, they are a changing, though, and the next hot zone for compliance – in 2018 and beyond – will have less to do with employment law and more to do with data governance and network security.

As data breaches and identity theft of business software continues to increase, HR should find itself in the unexpected role of managing, monitoring and enforcing data privacy. The reason? Fully 53% of all data breaches (malicious or otherwise) came not from external hackers or malicious threats, but rather, “internal actors” – namely, negligent employees and company executives.

Contrary to popular belief, individual contributors (39%) and senior leaders (33%) were actually much more likely than contractors (12%) and team managers (14%) to routinely violate data policies, meaning that this is one issue that HR cannot afford to ignore.

With identity theft the fastest growing crime, the most breached data in 2016 included social security numbers, mailing addresses, checking accounts and drivers’ licenses, making most HR systems of record an obvious target.

Protecting it is not just HR’s responsibility, but it’s also an opportunity – 70% of CIOs recently surveyed suggested lack of in house expertise was the biggest challenge to data security and privacy. Over the coming year, look for HR to step in and fill this critical role at the intersection of employee privacy, training and company policy – a niche the talent function seems uniquely positioned to help fill in the future.

2. Visualization Makes Big Data A Big Deal.

While it’s probably a bit premature to assume that recruiters are going to be able to leverage the deluge of data and actionable analytics in any sort of meaningful way, that doesn’t make “big data” any less of a big deal.

The problem is that most recruiters aren’t all that good at math (which is a big reason a lot of us ended up here, frankly). Data is only worth the story it tells, and recruiters have a hard time, as a rule, making it all add up. Enter data visualization.

Data visualization is more than infographics or dash boarding; it helps us understand not only who’s in our network, but how we’re connected. Often called “social network analysis,” a bevy of tools currently exist for providing rich, real time visualizations of employee networks, talent pools, professional colleagues and personal connections.

The resulting visualizations for the first time can help organizations gauge real influence for the first time, the kind that you just can’t represent on an org chart or traditional hierarchy. This helps not only identify who the most effective brand ambassadors or potential referral sources might be, but also, who the connectors are in your organization.

Network analysis of these connectors reveal not only where the informal power in your organization is concentrated, but also how information flows from department to department or team to team, how to streamline information, processes and procedures and, most importantly, where institutional knowledge and actual influence reside.

Forget identifying “hi pos” or “culture fits.” Instead, data visualization not only lets us easily see who it is who’s actually driving that culture, and who not only represent your brand, but live its values each and every day.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, than data visualizfaiotn is worth an infinite amount of numbers. Or at least, it sure as hell beats Excel.

1. Don’t Pay Attention To Trends.

If what you’re doing is working, then keep making hires and ignore specious blog posts like this one. Seriously.

This concludes another gratuitous edition of fortune telling, prognostication and vacuum deducting for 2016. Let’s just be glad that no matter which of these trends really matter most in 2017, it’s an improvement on this dumpster fire of year. All we can say is, thank God it’s over.

Now if we could only be so lucky with ‘trends’ like “candidate experience” or “millennial hiring.” Because no matter what year it is, that shit’s just stupid.

About the Author: Matt Charney is the Executive Editor of RecruitingDaily. Follow him on Twitter @MattCharney or connect with him on LinkedIn.

ARTICLE SOURCE: Recruiting Daily

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Categories

How Staffing Firms Saved Hiring For 2020

Positive outlook for the hospitality industry

Returning to Work

Us Temp Jobs Up By 13,400 In Second-highest Gain In Two Years

7 for 2017: The Top Recruiting and HR Trends Every Talent Pro Needs To Know.