Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER July 10, 2017 FEATURES 17 e skills employees learn, such as problem-solving, communica- tion and situational awareness, will be a force multiplier for the organization. Imagine an organization where problems are dealt with at the lowest level, and communicated upwards before they become ma- jor issues. Further, every person in the organization acts as a sensor and feeds the organization with in- formation and ideas from the front line — information that senior managers may otherwise not re- ceive until a customer complains. An employer with an employee pool demonstrating leadership at- tributes is an organization with a full leadership pipeline. Being able to effectively promote the right in- dividuals to positions of leadership will ensure the organization's lead- ership backbone remains strong. A poor understanding of what it means to be an effective lead- er usually causes those who are ambitious to focus on what they think is required of a good leader, leading to a skewed understand- ing of what demonstrates strong leadership potential, such as sales volume. An employee pool that has a strong understanding of leadership will be an employee pool of ideas, creativity, team work, ethics and action. Leadership training should be specific to the next level an indi- vidual is moving toward. Once an employee is earmarked for promotion, she needs to be ade- quately trained to excel in the next position. She should understand the fundamentals and principles of leadership, and be trained in the key skills she will need to lead her team. is training should be heavily experiential in the current operating environment. For ex- ample, if the new leaders will be leading satellite team members, they need to learn the skills in this context. is way, the training can actually provide some experience for the new leader. An investment in leadership development for every employee is an investment in customer ser- vice, marketing, product develop- ment and strategic objectives. When every member is a leader, every member has accountability, every member has a sense of own- ership and every member will be a steward for the organization. Lead- ership development throughout the entire organization is the most effective way to turn an employer from good to exceptional. Biren Bandara is the founder of Leader School in Ottawa. He can be reached at (613) 539-3195 or for more infor- mation, visit www.leaderschool.ca. Stock pipeline full of leaders LEADERSHIP < pg. 15 TECHNOLOGY Using tech to find, retain best talent Advances in technology have completely reshaped how companies recruit workers By Marcus Mossberger M ost organizations are recognizing the sig- nificant headwinds impacting their ability to find, maintain and grow the talent they need to meet future de- mand. North America is expe- riencing the lowest unemploy- ment rates since the global re- cession (Canada is currently at 6.7 per cent, the United States is at 4.9 per cent and Mexico is at 3.4 per cent). Worker demographics have reached a tipping point as mil- lennials begin to replace baby boomers to make up the largest percentage of the workforce. Add on top of this a new administra- tion in the U.S., a global wave of nationalism (as seen with Brexit), questions about trade policy and a protectionist mindset around jobs, and there are serious impli- cations about how employers will need to evolve to survive (and even thrive). Talent technology must play a key role. Recruitment less reactionary In the last decade, few areas of HR have changed more than re- cruiting. Traditional recruitment has been reactionary — someone leaves an organization and then the recruiter gets a call from the manager who needs a new per- son… tomorrow. The new talent acquisition has become a combination of workforce planning, marketing, relationship management, sales, employment branding, team- building and recruitment. ere is no single technology tool for this new paradigm, so organiza- tions end up with a complicated network of social media platforms (such as Facebook or LinkedIn), a traditional applicant tracking sys- tem (ATS), customer relationship management (CRM) tools, bud- geting and planning parameters, employment branding and digital design capabilities that require marketing skills rarely found in traditional HR departments. Technology can now be ac- cessed anywhere, anytime. As a result, businesses and organiza- tions should not only care about what technologies they are us- ing, but how these technologies are being used, according to IBM CEO Ginni Rometty. Employers should consider how technology can improve the speed at which they operate — this is today's technology differentiator. What does this mean for talent acquisition challenges such as hir- ing, onboarding and retention? It means organizations must work quickly and wisely — especially when recruiting and retaining millennials. Given their mobility and constant connectedness to their devices, millennials often expect a quicker hiring process. With human capital manage- ment technology, hiring man- agers can speed up the process by having the job requisition prepopulate with details such as salary parameters, rules around head count, full-time equivalent (FTE) limits and any other details they would like to track. Assigned position codes will automatically generate similar job postings — like the quick application process enjoyed by the candidate. Recruit- ers can also merge this informa- tion with external databases, and hiring managers can track re- cruiter progress in areas such as days-to-fill. Even though many systems are data-driven, they should also encompass the "softer" aspects of hiring. is means including behavioural assessments to gain insights into people's drive, inter- personal style and work prefer- ences, and comparing these in- sights to the job they are applying for. If a candidate is not a fit for the job, she may be compatible with another open position within the organization. Most employers recognize that the best people usually come from inside an organization — either as transfers or referrals. Ensuring existing employees have constant visibility to upcoming oppor- tunities (either for themselves or someone in their network) is critical. is visibility can be achieved through a central system or net- work that can be easily accessed by both HR practitioners and company-wide employees. is network allows HR and employees to track, and share, open positions — paving the way for a more seamless talent acqui- sition process. Obviously, this highlights the need to integrate existing talent pools with formal succession planning as part of a larger talent acquisition strategy. And giving recruiters visibility of "silver medallists" (who were strong candidates but not select- ed) — through the implementa- tion of talent management soft- ware — can significantly reduce sourcing time when a candidate with good transferrable skills has already been identified. Making it easy (for the appli- cant and the hiring manager) is key. For instance, tools such as LinkedIn will highlight any per- sonal connections people have at a specific company if they are ex- ploring opportunities there. More and more organizations have also begun using video job postings instead of traditional written job postings, where cur- rent employees give a 30-second description of what they do and why they love it in a video format to really capture the attention of a potential candidate. Once that attention is cap- tured, communication between the individual and organization needs to go beyond simply send- ing an email. Many people are more likely to read a text than an email, and McDonald's, for exam- ple. is apparently using Snapchat for applications. At a bare mini- mum, organizations need to have a streamlined, mobile, quick and easy application process. Keeping your hires e best way to retain people is to first understand why people leave organizations. While there is some truth to the old adage: "People don't leave companies, they leave managers," the real- ity is companies can and should be focused on empowering both managers and employees with tools and resources that will pro- vide them with visibility to the next step in their career. e millennial workforce is not willing to wait a full year for feed- back, recognition and direction, so a regular cadence of engage- ment is necessary. rough modern HCM soft- ware, companies can design training plans based on business goals — ultimately creating de- velopment opportunities for top performers and helping to reduce attrition rate. Additionally, mobile "pulse" surveys, social recogni- tion tools and new performance management systems provide the mechanisms for this new model of interaction. But the bottom line is this next generation has a different set of expectations. It is well-known they will change jobs and, in many cases, change careers several times through their working life. Employers that give these indi- viduals visibility to opportunities to change jobs (or even careers) within the organization will inevi- tably keep this intellectual capital (and institutional knowledge) lon- ger than average. This career progression can actually be personalized to each individual by using the same be- havioural data that was collected in the aforementioned assessment tool. Instead of creating one-size- fits-all development plans, in- dividuals can gain exposure to training, experiences, mentors and future positions that are tai- lored to their unique behavioural DNA. Organizations that embrace the use of technology to enhance tal- ent strategies will find themselves navigating this new environment with greater success, while those that don't will soon discover their talent has moved on. Marcus Mossberger is senior direc- tor of health-care HCM Strategy in Kansas City, Miss. Given their mobility and constant connectedness to their devices, the millennial generation often expects a quicker hiring process.

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