Kira Talent Blog

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[kiratalent]

How Online Dating is Like the Job Search

SANDRA WILLIAMS-HERVE

We make decisions every day, and some of those decisions are very costly. Take, for example, buying the wrong house, the wrong car or hiring the wrong candidate .

The time you spend on one thing is taking you away from spending it on something else. Something that could be more rewarding. “We invest in search costs because it is worth it, because we get something we really want,” said Paul Oyer, the associate professor of Economics at Standford University and the author of Everything I Ever Needed to Know about Economics I Learned from Online Dating, in an interview with Harvard Business Review.

The market for a life partner is hard to beat. That’s why online dating sites like Match.com, eHarmony, and Lifemates are valued at approximately $2.1 billion in the United States alone, according to market research firm Marketdata Enterprises.

The costs of search

When it comes to picking a life partner tastes vary. In an ideal world we would have the ability to meet every single person on the planet and find the perfect match, however, the world is not ideal. Perhaps that’s why online dating continues to grow in popularity. According to Pew Research, 59% of internet users in 2013 believed online dating is a good way to meet people, a 15% increase from the 44% who said so in 2005.

Despite its setbacks, it’s a quick way to scan potential partners. You have to invest time reading profiles on websites, which, can be very costly, but it can also be very rewarding because you are going to get a better fit and a better partner as a result.

Mutual choosing

 “Mutual choosing does make the market much more complicated,” said Oyer. You’re not just settling for someone; they’re settling for you too. Here’s how online dating mirrors the world of recruitment. When it comes to finding a life partner, just as in looking for an employee to join your company, both sides have to agree. However, employers, job seekers and those seeking a partner are always wondering, ‘Can I do a little bit better?’

If a candidate keeps looking for just the right job and the employer keeps on looking for just the right person, they end up having openings that are unfilled and good candidates end up being unemployed.

Loneliness in the dating game is just as depressing as being unemployed in the job market.

Getting serious

The online dating world is notorious for expressing interest in a person but not back it up with action. An online dating site in Korea wanted to change that. They used what economists call signaling (making it expensive to show your interest). They established a policy that allowed users to send invitations for a date and limited the amount of invitations a person could send. Only two invitees could receive a virtual rose. This put the onus on people to carefully select who they wanted to give a rose to. In the end, it was very effective because people were more likely to respond to an invitation for a date if it came with a virtual rose. A virtual rose makes the market work better because it forces users to make a sacrifice for someone they are truly interested in.  

Weeding out the players

Emailing a resume is easy. Video interviews, on the other hand, imposes artificial scarcity and weeds out the candidates that you don’t want in the first round. The person on the online dating site can get a sense of how much you really want to meet them. Likewise, an employer can get a clear idea of who is really interested in working for them.

At Kira Talent, we’ve noticed a drop off in the amount of people who actually move forward to creating a video. This tells us who’s just playing the field and who’s really serious about landing the job.

Sign up for Kira Talent 

[kiratalent]

Happy Holidays from Kira Talent!

Happy Holidays from the Kira Talent team!

As 2013 comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to send our best wishes to our supporters and friends of Kira Talent. It has been a very exciting year for us and we wanted to thank all of you for your continued support.

2013 milestones: • Raised $2.0MM of venture and angel capital led by Relay Ventures • Released Kira 2.0, a complete product and UI redesign • Released the Kira Talent mobile app for iOS and Android

Perhaps most exciting is the growth of the Kira Talent team, which has gone from 5 to 15 amazing people in just one year. We thought it would be great to introduce them to you while showcasing how Kira Talent gave back to the local community this holiday season, so click the play button below to see our Holiday video:

We're looking forward to an incredible year ahead, filled with exciting product releases, great additions to our team, and of course, continuing to help connect leading organizations with top talent from around the world.

We can't wait to share it with you.

From all of us at Kira Talent, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season and an amazing new year ahead.

Best wishes, Emilie Cushman and Konrad Listwan-Ciesielski Kira Talent Co-Founders

[kiratalent]

5 Simple Ways to Improve your Hiring Process in 2014

So 2013 is coming to a close and for a lot of us that means it’s time to start setting business goals for the new year. At Kira Talent, we believe that there’s no better way to reach your goals than by hiring talented people to work for your organization.

In that spirit, here are 5 simple ways to improve your hiring process in 2014.

Understand the position you’re hiring for

This one sounds obvious, but it’s worth mentioning. You’re not just filling a position, you’re solving a problem and addressing a need that your organization has. Without a clear understanding of what they’ll be doing on a day to day basis, you won’t be able to accurately determine the skills they need, the experience required, and the motivation they’ll need to get through the day.

Be flexible with the requirements

We all want the best candidates to apply for the job, and there’s nothing wrong with that. While it’s tempting to set the bar high and demand high levels of education and experience from candidates, the reality is that by doing so you drastically reduce the amount of applicants you receive and increase the amount of time it takes to hire.

Be realistic about what is really required to succeed in the role and consider hiring for things like personality, potential, curiosity, and fit. Hiring a candidate with raw talent and a natural curiosity can be a rewarding experience for both parties, and not only allows you to widen your search, but these candidates can also be shaped over time to address specific business needs.

Test your candidates

Interviews are a great way to learn about your candidates, but it’s difficult to compare their abilities without putting them to the test. Consider having candidates complete a short written knowledge test for technical roles, or for customer facing roles, role playing can be an incredibly effective tool for gauging how they would react to a real-world scenario.

If you really want to test their understanding of the requirements of the role, nothing beats a 30, 60, 90 day plan. In short, you ask your top candidates to create their plan for the first 12 weeks at your company, including their goals and the outcomes they expect to achieve. These don’t have to be overly detailed, but they will provide you with an immediate idea of who best understands the role and responsibilities.  

I know what you’re thinking: What if candidates don’t want to complete a test and lose interest in the position?

Exactly. The goal of your recruiting efforts isn’t just to find candidates who can do the job, it’s to find candidates who want the job. If they’re not willing to put the time in to prove themselves, they likely don’t want the position enough.

Involve your team in the decision

You’re one person in an organization of many, so why not get your team involved? They may be able to pinpoint personality traits that you didn’t notice, or technical weaknesses that you don’t understand. If you’re hiring for a technical role, leverage your in-house experts and have them ask technical questions.

Remember, you’re not the only person who will be working with this candidate, so bringing your team in helps to ensure fit with the whole organization. It also has the added advantage of building a hiring culture at your organization, and shows that you trust and respect their opinions.

Finally, hiring the right candidate can often take a lot longer than you expect, and it can be tempting to settle on “good enough” instead of “great”, so involving your team in the hiring process ensures that you don’t settle for less than you should.

Build an employee referral program

Employee referral programs are a great way to find top talent, especially passive talent that may not necessarily be looking for a new job. An effective employee referral program can turn every employee into a talent scout, so why not build one at your organization?

The best employee referral programs are responsive – you want your employees to know that you value their opinions and that their referrals are a high priority. Contact the candidate within a few business days, and keep the employee updated all the way through the process. Taking too long to follow up on referrals makes the whole program seem less important than it really is.

Rewarding employees with a cash reward is an easy way to incentivize them to participate. But what if tangible rewards aren’t an option? The easiest solution is to offer immediate positive feedback and to provide a way for them to track their referrals. The key here is immediate, since you want to tie the reward to the action as closely as possible.

Bonus: Use video interview screening in your recruitment process

Kira Talent’s video interview screening platform makes recruiting top talent easier than ever. You record video interview questions and have your candidates answer them on their own time. It’s a great way to test your candidates, and makes it easy to collaborate with your team all the way through the process.

If you really want to take your recruiting to the next level, Kira Talent will get you there. It’s free to sign up, and your first 10 interviews are on us. Check out Kira Talent for more information.

https://www.kiratalent.com/

[kiratalent]

Stop hiring A-players

It seems counter intuitive, but you should stop hiring for A-players in B or C roles. They are hard to hire, expensive, and flight-risks.

  Recently I heard Ravin Jasuthasan present the Towers Watson Global Talent 2021 study and one concept in particular struck me: you need to assess a vacant role as one of proficiency or as a pivotal role to your core business.

  Proficiency roles require little creativity, follow wrote instructions, get you from A to B and are not core to your business’ success. An airline pilot, for example, could be considered a proficient role. You do not want a creative pilot who makes up rules and flight patterns as they go. Oppositely, you want a pilot that can follow the detailed checklists and launches, flies, and lands the plane safely.

  Pivotal roles, on the other hand, require people to be at their best, to be creative, to think on their feet and, at times, embody your brand. These are front-line, client-facing staff that need to be react in the moment to close the sale or delight the client. A flight attendant is a pivotal role, as without a great experience its unlikely you will continue to use that airline.

  In your business there are pivotal and proficiency roles. As you seek to make HR more strategic and recruit the best, you should consider how you can recruit the “best-required” not the best-available for the role.

  At Kira Talent we’re not 100% sure what the best-required looks like for your organization, but we know that it is rarely communicated on-paper or over the phone.

  As you hire your next proficiency role using video interview screening is a great way to see a number of candidates very quickly asking technical questions will show if they hurdle over the ‘can do the job’ mark.

  Video is also a great way to ask questions for pivotal roles where creativity, charisma, or communication skills are required. Asking a few great questions and having 5-10 reviewers weigh-in takes a fraction of the time of live-interviews and drives a much more successful result.

  It might be a tough-pill to swallow, but getting your hiring-manager to bring on B and C players into proficiency roles might be a great way to get new talent cost-effectively and who stay longer without getting bored. 

[kiratalent]

The Secret to Better Engagement between HR and Hiring Managers

How can you elevate your standing in your organization? How can you establish HR as a strategic partner, not just a process role?

  While attending the ERE Media conference in Chicago last week, there was resounding theme bubbling up out of the sessions, conversations in the halls, and around the lunch tables: how do we make HR more strategic.

  One very foundational answer is to engage strategically with our business partners.

  The HR function is a catalytic role designed to help our business partners make better decisions around talent. We’re not just about processing widgets.

  You know the drill: you have a req to fill yesterday! and your hiring manager is ‘swamped’ with ‘no-time to meet.’  They ask if you could just send over ‘the best’, which you do, but they never follow-up. You lose the candidate in the end.

  At Kira Talent we’ve heard this pain time and again and are on a quest to help you easily engage your hiring managers.

  With our YouTube style video feed and Facebook-like comment and rating function you can easily send candidate videos to hiring managers. On their walk to work, waiting in line for a sandwich, or at their desk they can scan through the applicants using Kira Talents mobile or web-based platforms.

  We know they are busy and that video is the most effective way to show-case a candidate. It’s why we’ve setup our platform to be setup in minutes and help you save 85% of your time.

  We’d love to show you how if you have 10-minutes.

[kiratalent]

Top business schools chop entrance essays

MBA admissions officers are scaling back written essay requirements for applicants. Candidates for spots at Rotman School of Management, for example, now participate in video essays instead of writing. Meanwhile, according to a recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek, schools like The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Business School and Columbia Business School are working to simplify the application process for potential students and lessen the load on admissions teams.

  Fewer words, more said

Wharton, for instance, has chopped its admissions-essay word count from 1,400 to 1,000. Admissions director Ankur Kumar told Businessweek that now, instead of three general topics, applicants address two specific subjects designed to probe “intellectual curiosity and academic engagement.”

  “What we’re really looking for is who they are and how they think,” Kumar said.

  This move to reduce the amount of writing required makes sense. But schools should go further. Rotman has. This institution now uses a video essay instead of two additional written essays for applicants. (Read about the video component on Rotman’s Admissions Blog.) Writing doesn’t always convey the details that admissions officers need to select the best enrolment candidates. Prospective students may get help from friends, colleagues and admissions consultants to craft excellent essays. The finished products don’t necessarily reflect applicants’ true capabilities and interests.

  On the other side of the equation, poorly written essays are terribly boring for MBA admissions teams to read. Long essays sap precious time from other aspects of school business, most notably in essential tasks like curriculum development.

  The video option

Video interview screening is a better alternative to essays. Video conveys a wealth of personality, making it easier for admissions teams to truly assess whether applicants will succeed in MBA programs. It takes much less time to review a video than read an essay, which means admissions officers have more time for other work. And it’s relatively easy for decision makers to share video content and collaborate on choosing the best enrolment candidates.

  Video is better for applicants as well. It takes less time to participate in video essays. The visual medium also gives applicants the chance to show their true personalities.

  Applicant-assessment methods at business schools are evolving. Rotman, Wharton and others that have curtailed their entrance-essay loads lead the trend. We see institutions of all sizes reducing their use of admissions essays in favor of less time-consuming yet more detailed media such as video. Modern interview teams, facing ever-increasing numbers of applicants, must learn to rely on the time savings afforded by modern interviewing methods, and will find more suitable applicants coming to the front of the crowd as a result.

  Kira Talent is the premier video admissions platform for academic institutions. Our simple and easy-to-use design seamlessly integrates into any recruitment process. 

[kiratalent]

4-steps to Designing Skill Revealing Video Questions

Let’s face it: interviewing is an art. Over time and with experience we’ve learned how to ask great questions in live interviews to our candidates to get to the heart of their experiences. But what happens as the recruitment process continues to shift online and with the emergence of video? The game has changed, and we need to adapt.

  There is no doubt that video is here, and here to stay. In 2010, only 10% of companies reported using video in recruitment. Fast forward to 2012 that number jumped to 62%. In 2013 and beyond video is expected to reach near full market saturation because of webcam ubiquity, the power of mobile devices, and access to high-speed internet.

  So how do we adapt our questions to be optimized for video?

  1. Create Personable Introduction

Give a personable introduction and introduce yourself. It can be as simple as providing your name and role or as elaborate as to why you love to be at your organization. Don't forget to smile, as though you would in real life. 

  2. Set the Context

Don’t just jump into the question, but set the context and explain why this question is helpful for the reviewer. For example, “At our company we work in small, tight-knit teams and  heavily value individuals who are great team-players.[then jump into the question] Can you tell me about the dynamic of your current team and how you’ve contributed to the team’s morale?”

  3. Make Direct & Specific Ask

As in the question above, the question was specific to ask about the team dynamic, but also specified the need to detail the individual’s contributions. Another example might be “Can you please tell me three ways in which you’ve gone above and beyond to build a great team?”

  4. Instructional and Thankful Sign-off

At the end of the interview, it’s important to give a quick sign-off to thank the individual for taking the time to apply and providing some direction on next steps and timelines. When signing off, don’t forget to smile as it makes a world of difference.

  Kira Talent’s video interview screening is simple to setup and allows for intro videos, unlimited question videos, and outro videos. Over 85% of candidates rate Kira Talent a 5-star experience or greater as the process is beautifully designed, a time-saver, and very much mimics an in-person interview.

[kiratalent]

The Art & Science of Employer Branding

The war for talent is raging on, but does your firm have the right equipment for the battle. In this four part series, we'll explore the elements needed to strengthen your employer brand. 

  Part I: Employer Branding 101

  What is employer branding?

As an employer, how is your firm perceived by current and potential employees? If you can succinctly answer this, then you’ve defined your employer brand. Whether you’re hiring for a results-driven, professional environment, or a creative, fun and friendly atmosphere, communicating the firm’s identity to candidates is just as essential as maintaining the brand itself.

Why does it matter?

A strong, distinct employer brand can do wonders for the hiring prospects and retention ratios of a firm. These days, it isn’t enough to draw in a crowd, you need the right crowd, consisting of people who gravitate to the image that the firm projects. Even more importantly, you need to retain your top performers, employees that the company has thoroughly invested in, have trained, and will depend on in the future. According to the Economist, a solid brand benefits all fronts, and may result in a 20% increase in the pool of potential workers, a fourfold increase in commitment among employees, and a 10% decrease in payroll costs to boot.

  How is it established?

You have been building an employer brand since the beginning, regardless of whether it was intentional or not. From the written tone in company newsletters, to the style of interviews conducted, the brand has been building itself, and others have taken notice. Now think back to that answer you coined at the beginning of this post - is that the brand you intended to link to the firm? If not, it’s time to push past passive and guide the reigns.

How can you shape it?

Do Your Research. Be thorough in uncovering the brand from the inside out. Issue an internal survey to find out  what current employees believe the firm stands for. These results will serve as a starting point.

Determine the finish line. This is also called the EVP (Employer Value Proposition), or the target image of the firm. Make use of secondary sources to discover the ideal brand that external candidates and internal staff hope to contribute to. Meld that together with

Be Bold. Every firm should have its own set of values that play a crucial role in determining the overall brand. It may be tempting to leave room for interpretation and appeal to the masses - but that would completely defeat the purpose of establishing these values in the first place. Sure, a strong platform will turn away many able candidates. But what you’ll have left are the employees you’re really looking for.

Chart out your course. Now that you know where you are, and where you want to go, you’re ready to formulate a plan. Make-over your interview style, lighten up the interviewing venue if you’re aiming for people-friendly, or bring on video interviewing for a touch of innovation. Modify the on-boarding process, re-create the firm’s writing style - every detail can be crafted to point in that one, desired direction.

Measure your success. There are a number of ways to mark your progress. Keep track of retention ratios, applicant numbers, costs per hire, employee satisfaction, and brand awareness throughout the transition.

A healthy employer brand means a healthy employee base. Save your recruiting team some trouble by procuring your EPV and drawing in the right crowd instead of searching through the sub-par.

  Happy Branding!

[kiratalent]

The Cost of a Bad Hire

When was the last time you paid a $37,000 bonus to employee? You might be giving one as we speak without even knowing it. While the employee might not be the beneficiary of this $37,000, your organization and team is definitely paying the price.

Based on our calculations, for every bad hire that successfully slips through the recruiting net, employers stand to lose $37,845.

A few bad judgements, unpleasant encounters, and farewells later, you can imagine that the costs really start to pile up. In short, recruiting matters, a lot!

We’ve categorized these bad hire expenses into three groups: recruiting, onboarding, and opportunity costs. The amount spent on recruiting and onboarding can really drain your resources, but it’s the opportunity costs that make a surprising dent in your wallet, like the fine print that no one ever tells you about.

Although they’re often unaccounted for since they’re difficult to quantify, opportunity costs are significant and comprise the majority of the $37,845. The negative effect that a bad hire can have on their fellow colleagues, such as decreasing employee morale and increasing their workload, as well as  the lost profit from jeopardized client deals, can easily push the price tag of bad hiring decisions past the six figure mark.

You might be wondering: What are the signs I should watch out for in a bad hire? And how do employers miss these signs in the first place? Be sure to check out our infographic for the answers!

So what do employers do to keep bad hires at bay? They take preventative action by investing in their recruiting process and sealing as many holes in their screening as they possibly can. Leverage video interview screening is a powerful way to see personality, not paper. 

                  Check out our Cost of a Bad Hire Infographic

[kiratalent]

9 Employee Benefits that Would Win You Over

Hiring at a smaller firm is far from easy, with larger competitors waving fat paychecks in front of your best candidates. What does it take to get the big fish to bite? The secret lies in the little details, the fringe benefits – the work perks.

Don’t underestimate these perks, they have a significant effect on candidates’ final decisions. In 2012, 95% of Americans said they considered employment benefits and perks before staying or starting at a firm. If you’re at a loss for how a smaller firm can offer enticing benefits, try to find some inspiration in the following examples. Free Stuff

An inexpensive, yet very alluring work perk that not only grabs candidates’ attentions, but also serves as a great avenue for advertising.

Every member of Sweetgreen gets a free shirt, and the longer you're with Sweetgreen, the darker your shirt. After one year, you also get a pair of green high-top Converse sneakers. At two years, you get a t-shirt and a neon green iPod Nano Touch. After three years, you get a lime-green Sweetgreen bike.

At Storm 8, everyone gets a free iPod to enjoy their games, as well as money for purchasing another mobile device of choice.  And then there’s the "Pimp out your desk" contest, where an allowance is given to decorate every individual’s desk, and the employee with the most creative piece of work gets a prize – typically an iPad.

Culture

Let’s face it working with people you like and inspire you bring out your best. Having friends at work makes the day go by faster, and improving the corporate culture is the key to unlocking the potential in your team.     

Every Friday at 3 PM, the GiftCards.com team goes out for Beer Fridays to celebrate the end of a productive week and build colleague relationships.

NewTek is every child’s dream. Not only is the office always kid and pet friendly, employees can be seen zooming down the hallways on Razor scooters or enjoying themselves in the office’s arcade. The walls serve the purpose of a canvas, to allow staff to express their creativity through drawings, and bean bag chairs are scattered throughout the space.

 Lifestyle

When accepting a job becomes synonymous with adopting a healthy lifestyle, the choice is much simpler for candidates to make. Everyone has personal fitness, dietary, or scheduling goals that they’re aching to meet, and a workplace that pushes them to do so is all the more desirable next to its competitors.

At Veterans United, there is a masseuse on hand to give employees physical therapy, followed by a healthy snack.

Fab’s offices feature two full kitchens stocked with nutritious snacks, a standing salad bar, and a frozen yogurt machine overflowing with all kinds of great toppings.

Beginning Memorial Day, all the way up to Labor Day, everybody at Grasshopper gets Half-day Fridays, which gives them the chance to head off and make the most of their extended Summer weekend. TreeHouse also recognizes that Fridays are difficult to get through, so they’ve cut them out of the week all together!

Advocate fitness like Coalition Technologies does by providing employees with an $225/month gym membership. A pool and hot tub by the office means exercise opportunities during work hours, luxuries that candidates can’t help but picture themselves indulging in.

Training: The Fountain of Youth

 “You don’t stop learning when you’ve grown old; you grow old when you’ve stopped learning.” If this is the case, then no one at PEER 1 Hosting should worry about aging. The company believes in hiring learners and growers who will help the business succeed. In order to encourage growth, employees are provided with a Personal Learning Allowance of $300 to learn anything from cooking to guitar. “As long as they're growing, PEER 1 Hosting believes in supporting learning” says Erica Frank, representative of the firm. I see this ingenious benefit as the way of the future – the emerging work force will no longer be satisfied by long hours for large paychecks; they’re more interested in expanding their horizons with new experiences.

So why not go the extra mile and implement some exciting advantages to becoming a part of your firm? The actual work we do doesn’t vary much from one company to another; it’s what we see when we look up from the computer screen, stop for a lunch break, or end the work week that makes us think, “I definitely made the right decision.”

A special thank you to the wonderful respondents that contributed to this post!

[kiratalent]

The 6 Keys to Shaping Your Employer Brand

What is it?

As an employer, how is your firm perceived by current and potential employees? If you can succinctly answer this, then you’ve defined your employer brand. Whether you’re hiring for a results-driven, professional environment, or a creative, fun and friendly atmosphere, communicating the firm’s identity to candidates is just as essential as maintaining the brand itself.

Why does it matter?

A strong, distinct employer brand can do wonders for the hiring prospects and retention ratios of a firm. These days, it isn’t enough to draw in a crowd, you need the right crowd, consisting of people who gravitate to the image that the firm projects. Even more importantly, you need to retain your top performers, employees that the company has thoroughly invested in, has trained, and will depend on in the future. According to the Ipsos MORI, a solid brand benefits all fronts, and may result in a 20% increase in the pool of potential workers, a 4x increase in commitment among employees, and a 10% decrease in payroll costs to boot.

How is it established?

You have been building an employer brand since the beginning, regardless of whether it was intentional or not. From the written tone in company newsletters, to the style of interviews conducted, the brand has been building itself, and others have taken notice. Now think back to that answer you coined at the beginning of this post - is that the brand you intended to link to the firm? If not, it’s time to push past passive and guide the reigns.

How can you shape it?

Do Your Research. Be thorough in uncovering the brand from the inside out. Issue an internal survey to find out  what current employees believe the firm stands for. These results will serve as a starting point. Talk to The Ones That Got Away. It'd be a shame if we didn't learn from our mistakes. Reach out to the candidates that turned down your offer and ask them for their feedback - what ultimately made them say "no" and what could you have done with employer branding to change their minds? Ex-candidates are a source of rich, meaty information that most employers have yet to harness.

Determine the finish line. This is also called the EVP (Employer Value Proposition), or the target image of the firm. Make use of secondary sources like online databases and surveys to discover the ideal brand that external candidates and internal staff hope to contribute to. 

Be Bold. Every firm should have its own set of values that play a crucial role in determining the overall brand. It may be tempting to leave room for interpretation and appeal to the masses - but that would completely defeat the purpose of establishing these values in the first place. Sure, a strong platform will turn away many able candidates. But what you’ll have left are the employees you’re really looking for.

Chart out your course. Now that you know where you are, and where you want to go, you’re ready to formulate a plan. Make-over your interview style, lighten up the interviewing venue if you’re aiming for people-friendly, or bring on video interviewing for a touch of innovation. Modify the on-boarding process, re-create the firm’s writing style - every detail can be crafted to point in that one, desired direction.

Measure your success. There are a number of ways to mark your progress. Keep track of retention ratios, applicant numbers, costs per hire, employee satisfaction, and brand awareness throughout the transition.

A healthy employer brand means a healthy employee base. Save your recruiting team some trouble by emphasizing your EPV and drawing in the right crowd instead of searching through the sub-par. Happy Branding! This post was created by David Singh, VP Strategy and Operations at Kira Talent.

[kiratalent]

Three Factors Your Star Candidate Considered Before They Said “No”

Contrary to the headlines of high unemployment, it would appear that candidates remain the true decision maker. More than half of all employers – a whopping 56% to be exact – reported that a candidate rejected their job offer last year.

As the demand for talent continues to grow with the overwhelming outflow of baby boomers, recruiters everywhere will be amping up their recruiting campaigns and beefing up their offer packages.

For organizations that don’t keep pace, they will find a sea full of C-players, as the A and B players have been lured away based on three key factors: total compensation, quality of the experience, and intimacy with team.

It’s Hard to Ignore the Price Tag

The same concept can be applied to choosing a shiny, new flat-screen TV. When a number of different models satisfy your sports or sitcom viewing needs, what will the final decision boil down to? In many cases, it will be whichever choice is in the best interest of your bank account.

Well, it isn’t ground breaking, but the same goes for multiple job offers. Whether it’s the salary, benefit package, or yearly bonus, when it comes to Mr. or Ms. Right, make sure that what you’re offering has a decent shot at outshining its competitors . Do your research and position your offer strategically. Consider directly asking the candidate about  the compensation they are looking for, which will give you a good idea of how realistic winning them over will be. Ultimately, a more impressive offer will likely be less expensive than the further recruiting efforts it will take to replace your ideal candidate.

Who Can Resist Better Quality?

Just like TV-buyers prefer higher resolutions, candidates will pass up high quality work experiences for those of even higher quality.

Recruiters, don’t be the underdog in this scenario . Even if your firm may be lacking in some aspects, it certainly excels in a great deal of others. Push the friendly work environment and the huge promotion opportunities to the forefront of candidates’ minds. Share the success stories of current employees, or emphasize the incredible flexibility that they’ll be able to experience and enjoy. Every job has its perks – tell them why the ones you’re offering are better.

   Colleagues at First Sight

We’ve all encountered those TV sales people, the ones that charm you into not only parting ways with your money, but doing so happily. Maybe it was a similar experience that forged the connection, or just their undeniable charm; either way, we can all learn a thing or two from them to sway those perfect recruits.

In 2012, 56% of employees chose to begin and remain at their jobs because they “felt connected with the organization”, a statistic that certainly speaks to the impact of corporate fit and culture in employment decisions. Sometimes, this compatibility is beyond a recruiter’s control. Other times, their efforts make all the difference. Give the candidate a more personal recruiting experience; for instance, speak with them over a meal, or enjoy a sports game together. If they’re out of physical reach, try video interviewing, so they can match you up with more than a voice, and where you have the option to include features such as a message from the CEO. Whether it is picking a TV, or choosing a job - all it really takes is one person to sway the vote.

Essential to this entire process is to keep one thing in mind: if you don’t give them a compelling offer, somebody else will. That’s not to say you should go to the ends of the earth, but do remember to put yourself in a prospective flat-screen buyer’s shoes, and do what it takes to seal the deal on the spot.

This post was created by David Singh, VP Strategy and Operations at Kira Talent.

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Why do we work 40 hours?

  Does an 8-hour day, 40-hour work week still make sense? If we work more than 40-hours, does that make us unproductive? If we work less than 40-hours, does that make us lazy?

  Let’s break it down through the lens of history and the views of some thought leaders in the space.  

  First, a bit of history.

The 8-hour day dates back to Industrial Revolution in Britain during the 1800s when Robert Owen coined the slogan: eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, and eight hours rest. Over the following few decades, worker hours around the world would eventually fall to the 8-hours per day we now hold as fact.

  The 4-hour Week

Tim Ferriss, in his book “The 4-hour Work Week”, writes about working smarter and finding muses that generate passive income. Ferriss balances his pragmatic, quippy writing approach with an altruistic notion that you can have your cake and eat it, too. He does rightly acknowledge that this approach is not completely scalable to every job, but us ‘knowledge-based’ workers can strive for this.

  The 4-day Week

I recently heard Ryan Carson, CEO & Co-Founder of Treehouse, explain how his company, as a whole, decided that they heavily value free time and went so far as to reduce their work week to 4-days  while keeping with their 8-hour  work  day. Wahoo –  3-day weekend! The company doesn’t work, email, or plan on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; those days are spent away from work, unplugged.

Free Time in Lieu of Overtime

Recently, the US House of Representatives voted to pass the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013, which would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act and allow employers to provide time off in lieu of monetary compensation for overtime hours. Unfortunately, the bill must still navigate the Senate, so it’s not a done deal yet.

  Work-life-Balance

PwC’s Global NextGen study revealed that 66% of millenials would like to shift their work hours and occasionally work from out of the office, while 18% would give up some of their pay and slow the pace of promotion in exchange for working fewer hours. In Dan Pink’s book Drive, he doesn’t directly comment on hours, but does explains that to unleash the best in your team, you need to allow for purpose, autonomy and mastery.

  So what’s to make of all this? What is the right balance? The work place is changing and so should our expectations of what is “the standard.” Personally speaking, I don’t know where I sit on this. I love to work and I work long-hours when I love what I do (I’ve always been lucky to work for companies and in roles that I love). Full disclosure, I don’t have a family and am in the prime of my twenties rearing to work hard. Whether I’m working 20-hours or 80-hours per week, I’ve always found time for the personal items in my life and don’t feel I’ve given-up too much. I’ve had the autonomy to work from home, take days off when I need them, but I’ve always opted to work because I enjoy it that much.

  What are your thoughts? Should we have a 40-hour week? What does your company do to promote work-life balance? 

  This post was written by David Singh, VP Strategy & Operations at Kira Talent.

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As a manager, it's your responsibility to ensure that your team is working in a cohesive environment. If your colleague has been treated unfairly, then you'll want to read this to help bring back the friendly atmosphere.

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If you love writing but don't know how to set up a blog, then here are a few simple steps you can follow. 

"To write a journal is not that common as to write a blog, so start before it's too late. " 

Put aside your apprehensions and don't worry about what others will think. Follow these simple steps, and I'm sure you'll be blogging by tomorrow. 

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Just like Yelp and Trip Advisor,  there's now a platform to review and rate enterprise software - it's called GCrowd. 

On Gcrowd, users can share the comments and ratings that reflect their experience with any enterprise software. It is quickly becoming a reliable source for consumers to consult. Looks like your marketing team will have their hands full with the new task of listing and maintaining those GCrowd reviews! Read more

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New to creating job postings? Or do you make them so often that it's become second nature. Whether you're worried about making an amateur decision, or you need a refresher on posting guidelines, check out this post.

A single job posting can ruin your brand image and reputation in the market. We recommend that you avoid making these 3 mistakes when calling for candidates.