Employment Metrix

Looking for Employees That Love Your Brand? Hire Your Customers

2022-06-23T10:30:00-04:00

Many companies are now facing the challenge of having to fill open positions quickly while ensuring that the quality of the new hires is high enough and they’re a good fit for the organization. With such a tight labor market, companies must resort to unusual sources for candidates—including their own customers. This solution has become increasingly popular as it only makes sense to hire people who already love the brand and feel personally connected to it.

So, don’t think of your best customers as a source of income only because they purchase your products or use your services. If you turn them into employees, they can help you improve your business in various ways.

First, your customers are already familiar with your business and like your product or service: this not only ensures that they’ll be enthusiastic employees, but it may also mean that they’ll require less training, which will in turn result in quicker productivity. Moreover, because your customers admire your company, they’re more likely to be in alignment with its values and mission, which will make them more committed workers and more convincing ambassadors of your brand.

Other than admiring your products (or services), your best customers have been using them for a while: their practical experience can help you figure out shortcomings you were not aware of, or it can suggest ways to improve the product and make it more appealing to the public. Plus, your best customers may have used your products in ways you have never thought about. Taking advantage of their creative insight and fresh ideas could hugely benefit and regenerate your marketing strategies.

A company that aims at success should be listening closely to its customers’ needs and feedback, and should try to satisfy them. Having an “insider” on your team allows you to take advantage of their point of view and tap into their understanding of customers’ thought process anytime you need to. If you hire your customers, they will allow you empathize with the general public, hence to better understand—and sometimes even foresee—their needs.

Plus, reaching out to your customers is easy and may decrease your time to hire. You can recruit customers through the same channels you’re using to advertise and sell your products; for instance, you can directly give customers a flyer advertising open positions at the moment of the purchase. And enticing your customers to join your company is also relatively easy as they will be attracted by the offer of a discount on the products you sell.

So, if you’re in need of filling key positions within your organization, think outside the box and look inside the pool of loyal customers who love your brand and have long been supporting it.

Nexxt is a recruitment media company that uses today’s most effective marketing tactics to reach the full spectrum of talent – from active to passive, and everything in between. Learn more about hiring with Nexxt.

This article was written by Alex Cherici.
Alex Cherici is a PhD candidate in Chinese Linguistics at Indiana University. She's currently writing her dissertation and teaching undergraduate courses. Before resuming her academic studies, she has worked as a language teacher and school manager for eight years.

Gray Collar Workers Could Be the Key to Your Hiring Challenges

2022-06-07T10:30:00-04:00

Now and in the years to come, gray is the color that will help companies cope with filling open positions left vacant recently. Meet the gray collar workers.

Gray collar workers are the workforce subset lying at the intersection of technology and service roles, whose jobs combine both manual and technical skills. These so-called “middle-skilled” workers make up the majority of the labor market and were key to keeping the economy running throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. But despite being so important and numerous, gray collar workers tend to be overlooked by companies searching for specific employees to fill vacancies. Although gray collar workers are highly specialized and typically hold a good command of modern technologies, they’re underappreciated mostly due to the false perception that they’re not educated enough, hence easily replaceable. But if you're looking to add people to your team, it may be time to put aside these preconceived notions and tap into this valuable and talented pool.

Many gray collar workers have an associate degree or special certification, but not a 4-year degree. This complicates their job search. A smart move on the part of a companies in need of new employees is to reconsider their degree requirements. In the U.S., only one in three workers holds a degree equivalent to or higher than a bachelor’s degree. Yet, an increasing number of companies require it for positions that years ago did not require it. This degree inflation may be holding gray collar workers back and exacerbated the hiring challenges companies have been facing. As an employer, consider objectively assessing whether a certain diploma is really necessary to perform a specific job: by imposing this requirement, you may be trading off on specific skills and work experience. Gray collar workers often do have all the skills and job experience needed for the job, even without having the diploma. So be strategic and open-minded: provide good opportunities and recognition for these workers who can be the solution for filling critical positions within your company.

Another important step to take for benefiting from the great resource this key workforce represents is investing in training and reskilling programs. Many gray collar workers are perfectly able and willing to learn the skills they need to undertake a more specialized role—you just have to provide them with genuine support and effective tools (e.g., training workshops, mentoring programs, etc.). Furthermore, by being in charge of their training and education, you have the advantage of directly imparting good habits to the new employees and molding them according to the company values. Plus, training programs improve workers’ loyalty and ensure that their skills are up-to-date.

Gray collar workers are the valuable employees you’re looking for. They are out there, or perhaps already in your organization, and with the right recognition, guidance, and education, they can undertake many of the roles you may need to fill.

Nexxt is a recruitment media company that uses today’s most effective marketing tactics to reach the full spectrum of talent – from active to passive, and everything in between. Learn more about hiring with Nexxt.

This article was written by Alex Cherici
Alex Cherici is a PhD candidate in Chinese Linguistics at Indiana University. She's currently writing her dissertation and teaching undergraduate courses. Before resuming her academic studies, she has worked as a language teacher and school manager for eight years.

Employee Well-being Should Be a Core Business Strategy

2022-05-26T10:30:00-04:00

Companies must consider this key business strategy because it can promote higher retention and increased employee morale. The strategy that businesses should offer is workplace well-being.

Companies may feel the need to resume business as usual but this could be a mistake. With the unemployment rate at 3.6% and two job openings out there for every unemployed person, many companies are focused on retaining talent. Others are offering candidates incentives or higher salaries. Talented candidates want to feel appreciated and valued.

So, stay ahead of the curve and let your talent know you appreciate them. Start by promoting and sharing your efforts on workplace well-being. Focusing on well-being initiatives, according to Susannah Miall, corporate well-being specialist, will "make any workplace more productive and successful". Company research shows that well-being initiatives have the following effects:

1. Increased retention rate

Remember that your employees have personal dreams and goals and they want to know you support them along their journey. Are you investing and supporting them? If you are, they're more likely to stay when things become difficult.

Conversations to have with employees to promote employee well-being can include:

Career path opportunities/expectations
Consistent 1-on-1 meetings
Team appreciation shout-outs

Discussing these topics will help employees feel welcome at the workplace. When employees feel supported, they'll find ways to stay motivated and succeed. And the continued success will provide encouragement to stay and build their careers.

2. A healthy workforce

According to McKinsey Insights, one of the top employee health concerns is burnout. Causes of burnout include unsustainable workload, lack of control, or lack of a support. These factors can lead to employees leaving. Focusing on employee well-being creates what McKinsey calls a 'preventive approach'. Bring awareness to supportive working policies you have for employees. Examples of such policies include:

Flexible work schedules
Remote work options
Family-support services like childcare or care stipends
Skill-building programs (e.g., financial literacy, stress-management, or sleep improvement)
Family/medical leave for mental health conditions

These options allow employees to worry less and allow for a healthy work-life balance. In fact, McKinsey's survey showed that 31% of parents with these options reported no burnout. By being proactive companies can avoid negative health effects before they start.

3. Increases employee engagement

Employees that feel valued and happy deliver better productivity. According to futurist Jacob Morgan, positive experiences at work "[lead to] higher levels of discretionary effort." Focusing on well-being allows employees to feel like they matter and what they do has impact! A Social Market Foundation study found that happier employees are 20% more productive. Forbes data also showed that stock prices from the "100 Best Companies to Work for" rose 14% from 1998 to 2005. When employees feel better, they do better!

Companies can keep employees happy by encouraging employees to share how they're feeling. This rapport building helps your company understand the challenges they face. Your organization can launch initiatives to help support employees. This will result in employees that become brand advocates for your organization and act as a referral source for your company.

Nexxt is a recruitment media company that uses today’s most effective marketing tactics to reach the full spectrum of talent – from active to passive, and everything in between. Learn more about hiring with Nexxt.

This article was written by Jeremy Razo.
Jeremy Razo is a writer and workforce development trainer in Chicago. He enjoys traveling to new locations and talking White Sox baseball. Connect with at jere.razo@gmail.com.

Texting For Recruitment

2022-05-10T10:00:00-04:00

Our friends at Recruitics, put together a great piece about why texting can positively impact your recruitment strategy.

We understand that many people have questions when it comes to texting for recruitment and this blog post covers it all!

You can check it out this incredibly thoughtful and well-crafted post here: The Benefits of Texting for Recruitment

Job Descriptions in The Digital Era Should Be Based on Skills Not Tasks

2022-04-28T10:00:00-04:00

Employers are scaling back or even eliminating the need for employees and potential employees to have college degrees. Their reasoning for this? Employers now prefer to hear and see a candidate's skills and competencies. A Harvard Business Review study found "degree inflation" made the job market inefficient, because degree inflation demanded college degrees to work jobs that didn't need them.

The trend after COVID-19 is moving sourcing practices in a more lenient direction. Major employers like IBM, Bank of America, and Github have relaxed their hiring practices. These changes may stem from having a smaller pool of active candidates to hire from and strict job requirements have put companies at a major disadvantage during the Great Resignation. Employers must find the right candidates AND scale back their job requirements. But how? Well, the solution lies in starting the hiring process with a skills-based job description.

A skills-based job description values—you guessed it—skills, but also performance, and results. And here's why you need to consider skills-based job descriptions in the digital age:

1. Detailed job descriptions quickly filter candidates

Writing such job descriptions rewards candidates for their competencies and potential. The traditional description might have "prepare reports” or "write evaluations for employees". The problem with this is that the tasks are too vague. The description offers no insight into the knowledge, skills, or behaviors needed. A skills-based job description would remedy this issue. Now imagine if the description said "Prepare sales forecasts'' or "conduct banker reviews". These points offer a glimpse into what the workday looks like for candidates.

2. Values life experience over credentials and formal education

Another reason to consider skills-based job descriptions is its focus on results. Candidates are not excluded for not meeting criteria like degrees or certifications. Someone that helped run their parent's store may have sales and marketing experience. While not formal experience, the candidate can succeed if he or she relates their efforts to the job.

Here are some sample descriptions:

Looking for resilient individuals to make 80+ phone calls to new businesses.
Collaborates effectively to get things done, building and nurturing strong relationships.
Has the ability to learn and adapt to new information and technology platforms.

3. Access to a new pool of candidates

The biggest benefit in using skills-based job descriptions is the opening of the door to a new talent pool. Candidates were once discouraged from applying to a job before based on factors beyond their control like geography, education, or networking contacts. Now employers are at a disadvantage by not considering "non-traditional" candidates. Candidates now can come from all types of experiences, like the military, other industries, workforce development programs, etc. The life stories of these candidates provide more than ample experience.

The hiring trends we're seeing now are relaxed job requirements and tweaks to job descriptions and they're allowing employers to remain competitive and innovative when it comes to attracting top talent to their organizations.

Nexxt is a recruitment media company that uses today’s most effective marketing tactics to reach the full spectrum of talent – from active to passive, and everything in between. Learn more about hiring with Nexxt.

This article was written by Jeremy Razo.
Jeremy Razo is a writer and workforce development trainer in Chicago. He enjoys traveling to new locations and talking White Sox baseball. Connect with at jere.razo@gmail.com.

Stop Asking Job Seekers Questions in The Interview You Don't Care to Know the Answers To

2022-04-12T10:00:00-04:00

Small talk is a core component of our everyday interactions, it’s a convenient ice-breaker we can use to start a deeper conversation. Even in formal occasions, such as job interviews, starting out with small talk is acceptable and common, but that should be the only moment of the interview you’re asking questions whose answers, you already know, will be generic, per-packaged, and, very likely, not true!

Considering how precious the job interview time is, you should only ask questions you really care about and those answers can effectively help you select the right candidate(s).

Let’s take the infamous “What’s your greatest weakness?”, for instance. You don’t really care to know what a person biggest weakness is, do you? Even if you were curious about it, you’d unlikely hire someone who bluntly reveals their most outrageous flaw. Your interviewees know that utmost honesty won’t get them the job, and therefore they lie. Questions like this get you nowhere. They don’t help you know the candidate any better.

The same goes for another great classic, “Why did you leave your last job?”. You won’t hire someone who frankly admits “My boss was incompetent”” Rather you’d be more likely to give a chance to someone who uses the trite and per-packaged “I was seeking growth and development; your company seems like the ideal place for this”, but after all did you really care for this answer? Did it tell you anything about the candidate’s fitness for the position? The answer is no.

So, let’s start by refreshing your list of questions, discarding all those questions that may lead interviewees to give you untruthful, hence uninteresting and useless, answers. It is time to revamp those old, rhetorical questions: ask questions that really give you the chance to test a candidate’s creativity, trouble-shooting skills, and dedication to being a team player.

Instead of asking about the past, ask about the future. Forgo questioning candidates about their biggest failures, and ask them how they will solve a specific issue or perform a specific task relevant to the position you’re interviewing them for.

Stop looking for perfect matches: chances are that no candidate will have the same exact skillset and work experience. Be practical: try to find out if a candidate is a fast and pro-active learner instead. So, rather than asking them to identify their greatest weaknesses, ask them to explain how they address their flaws and what they do for self-improvement.

Asking the right questions—those you really care about knowing the answers to, those focusing on what a candidate can do for your company in the future will improve your chances to find the true good fit.

Nexxt is a recruitment media company that uses today’s most effective marketing tactics to reach the full spectrum of talent – from active to passive, and everything in between. Learn more about hiring with Nexxt.

This article was written by Alex Cherici.
Alex Cherici is a PhD candidate in Chinese Linguistics at Indiana University. She's currently writing her dissertation and teaching undergraduate courses. Before resuming her academic studies, she has worked as a language teacher and school manager for eight years.

What Job Seekers Want

2022-03-17T10:00:00-04:00

The desires of job seekers have shifted over the last few years. While some things never change (the importance of earning a salary for instance is still the most important thing to job seekers), at the moment, job seekers are holding the cards and have power over employers. Expect job seekers to be more confident when it comes to negotiating for salaries, benefits, and flexibility. In fact, thanks to The Great Resignation, job seekers believe it will be easy to find a new job. To learn more about what job seekers want in 2022, check out Nexxt’s latest infographic.