Recruitment Tips and Tricks to Attract Exceptional Talent

We may be in the middle of a global pandemic, but let’s face it – the competition for excellent talent still exists. Gone are the days when hiring managers or HR could throw up a job posting on Indeed and call it a day.

Nowadays, recruitment, or rather, talent acquisition has become an entire discipline in itself. There’s a good reason for this, and the proof is in the statistics. “60% of job seekers report a negative candidate experience with the employers they engage, 72% of job seekers report sharing their negative candidate experiences online, and 55% of job seekers report avoiding certain companies after reading negative online reviews” (Human Capital Institute, 2018). With statistics like these, a growing emphasis has been placed on best-in-class recruitment strategies. In this blog we will focus on three key elements:

1.  Candidate Experience

Candidate experience is king. But what is candidate experience? Well, it’s as simple as it sounds, really. Candidate experience is the experience that a candidate has with your organization; it begins the moment that a candidate interacts with your careers page and lasts all the way until an offer is accepted, or a rejection is given. So, what are the key elements to a great candidate experience? At Reimagine Work we believe it is two simple (easier said than done!) things that differentiate a good candidate experience from a bad one: follow up early and often and be genuine and authentic.

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2. Ease and Simplicity

Want to get more applications from qualified job seekers on jobs that you post? Try designing your recruitment process with simplicity and ease in mind. Remove barriers that may cause candidates to abort their mission to apply to your organization before it’s even started. Barriers include things like the necessity to create an account to apply, lengthy job history forms to fill in, and excessive screening questions. Instead, replace these barriers with technology that creates ease for the candidate. How about an option to “quick apply” by connecting your LinkedIn profile, simple to-the-point screening questions, keep the entire process for applying on one page, and try to ensure that your careers page and application portal are mobile friendly. 

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3. Employer Branding

When it comes to employer branding as a recruitment strategy, consistency is key. It’s important to ensure that your brand is consistent across all of your social media channels, as well as on your careers site, and in any in-person or virtual interactions. To take it one step further, ensure that the teams conducting phone and in-person/Zoom interviews are culture ambassadors for your organization, and that they understand the importance of maintaining an employer brand. We are pleased to offer our Recruitment Branding package for any companies looking to up their branding game.

In 2021 there is more buzz around talent acquisition than ever before. Some particularity important trends include remote work and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Check back next week as we discuss the importance of employer branding.

10 Ways To Manage Your Time

1. Minimize context-switching

Combat the urge to tab between your tasks and your slack by time blocking your tasks. For example, limit yourself to spending one hour in your inbox - 30 minutes at the beginning of the day, and 30 minutes at the end.  Blocking off the time you need to complete the task in your calendar will help create accountability to stay focused on finishing one task at a time, and to give it your full attention, rather than trying to juggle multiple tasks at once. This also helps create clarity for your teammates, so they know when they can reach you, and when you're tied up. Using a pomodoro timer is a similar technique - limiting your time on one task to 25 minutes, and then taking a short break before spending another 25 minutes on it or shifting to another task.

2. Treat your focus time as sacred and disconnect completely

To help set yourself up for successful "deep work" periods, schedule time periods where you can turn off your slack notifications, silence your phone, and close your email! Disconnecting from anything that will send you alerts or interrupt you, when it’s possible, is a great way to boost your productivity.  Be extra diligent about treating this time as sacred, heads down time.

3. Take breaks (real breaks)

A break isn’t mindlessly scrolling through your social media feed. A real break should mean stepping out of your work environment, so take time to leave your office and step away from your desk. Going for a walk, calling a friend or family member quickly, or meditating for a few minutes is a great way to boost your productivity, so that when you come back to your desk, you’ll have more energy to jump back into your to-do list. If your calendar gets filled up days in advance, set up recurring blocks of time for a few breaks throughout the day so others can’t book you into meetings during that time.

4. Do the urgent work first

Start your day by making a list of tasks that need your immediate attention. Unimportant tasks can consume much of your precious time, and it can be all too easy to spend energy on this kind of work because it’s easier or less stressful. However, if you can identify the most critical tasks that need to be completed during the day, get them out of the way first while you have the most energy. Take this to the next level by spending 10-15 minutes before you leave work for the day organizing your inbox and composing a list of your most important items for the following day.

5. Plan your schedule around your energy levels

If you feel more energized at certain times of the day, change your schedule to embrace that. Some people are more energized in the morning, while some are night owls. Plan your calendar around your energy levels. Spending your afternoon doing deep work, vs your afternoon in meetings may help you be more efficient. Similarly, stick to a consistent schedule as much as possible. Starting and ending your day at the same time can help to create more efficiency in your day, if you know you have to close your laptop at a certain time.

6. Leave time to regroup between tasks and meetings

Jumping immediately from tasks into meeting and back again can be challenging. Leaving yourself time to take a break and successfully transition from one type of task, like a meeting, to another, like answering emails or slack messages, will make it easier to stay focused and motivated. Leave yourself somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes if possible. This is a great way to build a break or two into your day!

7. Batch similar tasks together

If you have related tasks, batch them together and do them at once. For example, if you have to work on a few different spreadsheets, block time in your calendar to dive into them. Scheduling a specific time to handle related tasks helps minimize switching gears and having to adjust to the context of a new type of task. You may find this helpful for meetings on your calendar; batching your calls together during the morning can free you up to focus on your task list and to-dos in the afternoon, so your day won’t be truncated and interrupted by hopping in and out of calls.

8. Don’t hold a meeting without an agenda

Be ruthless about avoiding meetings that should have been emails by ensuring that any meeting you attend, there is an agenda circulated in advance. This should also be the case for any meeting you’re hosting; ensure you have clearly defined the meeting’s purpose and share your notes with the team before the meeting starts. Any prep you do beforehand can help you run the meeting smoothly and may even help you finish the call earlier! Agendas are great places to note any follow-up or action items which you can refer back to later, so nothing slips through the cracks and gets forgotten.

9. Do a weekly review at the end of each week

Auditing your time at the end of the week is a great way to spot areas where you could build in a better schedule or system for yourself. Use your weekly review to make adjustments to your time management plans. Continue to review your results week over week to see trends and gradual improvements.

10. Find a task management app that works for you

Everyone has different preferences when it comes to managing their to-do lists. One of the best ways to ensure you are making the most out of your time, and being as efficient as possible, is to find a task management app that you love, and suits how you like to keep track of your projects. Asana Trello, and ClickUp are all worth exploring, and there are many many others! A task manager should be able to help you quickly and clearly identify critical action items, so you can plan your time and energy around them accordingly.

Celebrating Virtually with your Team this Holiday Season

Celebrating Virtually with your Team this Holiday Season

2020 has had its share of party pooper energy. With daylight shrinking away in the early afternoons, and ‘All I Want for Christmas’ beginning to overtake your once-a-week trip to the grocery store, things can feel…a little confining.  

It’s important amongst all the virtual check-ins, team sprints, and general stress of the year, that we remember connection is something that powers us through it all. So, what now that we can’t be hosting our usual holiday parties? How can we celebrate the season in a way that still feels genuine and thoughtful?

While this may not replace toasting your team accomplishments in person, here are some great ways to celebrate, connect and create a memorable experience despite the odds. 

Try platforms other than Zoom

“Not another zoom meeting…”. Despite Zoom’s many graces during this socially distanced time, the word in itself can bring on a sense of dread. You’d be surprised at the difference a change in name can make. HopIn and Airmeet are some alternatives, and though these platforms are still centred around convening through video, their breakout room functions are great, and it’s something different.

Provide Breakout Rooms

Variety is the spice of life. The option to have some variety in a virtual environment can go a long way. Creating breakout rooms, especially themed ones can allow your team to move around at their own pace and per their own interests as if there were at a party themselves.

Plan a Group Activity

Since we’ve brought up breakout rooms, what about some group activities? It’s proven that shared experiences create a sense of connection, and that’s exactly what we’re going for. Give your team the gift of something they can talk about way after the holiday party.

Book a Workshop

Pair with a local florist such as Alicia’s Florals to send out a beautiful wreath kit and video instructions that your team can tackle on their own, or together. Or, if your team is missing the annual cheese platter, you can book with a company like The Farmer’s Daughter who will ship out a collection of delicious and locally made cheesy delicacies.

Play Some Games

Activities and games are forever a tradition when it comes to celebrating the holidays. Platforms like Snack Nation and Jackbox offer online games where all of your team can participate. Whether it’s charades, a holiday themed virtual escape room, or a mail out gingerbread kit for some healthy competition, activities will get your teams connecting and collaborating with one another.

Book Entertainment

We may not be able to gather for shows at this time, but there’s still a sense of warmth that comes with someone serenading you in front of a yule log. Live music has been hard hit, so this is also a great opportunity to support local musicians during this giving season.

Send a Gift

Send a wintery care package with local small business goods such as this '12 days of tea gift box’, raising money for Threshold Housing Society, or a weekly subscription for delicious coffee beans from Fernwood Coffee. Take it the extra mile and make it personal with a handwritten note recognizing what each team member brings to the table.  

The circumstances of this year may be keeping us physically apart, but that’s all the more reason to reach out and find ways to connect. Celebrating your staff and the festive season fuels your company culture and creates a sense of recognition and wellbeing moving into a (fingers crossed) prosperous 2021.  

3 Cs of Sick Time Planning: Creative, Considerate and Cost-Effective

3 Cs of Sick Time Planning During COVID-19: Creative, Considerate and Cost-Effective

Public and private employers have always had distinct differences in how they navigate workplace policies, compensations and supports around sick leave. These days, COVID-19 is adding yet another element to consider. If you are a full time federal, provincial or municipal employee at any level or you work for a large organization with comprehensive benefits, you already know you are entitled to a certain amount of paid sick leave each year. And, depending on what those circumstances are, you also may be eligible for further supports should your illness extend beyond your sick leave entitlements. In general, if you work for a public employer, you can rest assured if get sick you have a cushion and are “safe”

While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted sick leave and compensation in all organizations, this blog focuses on smaller private businesses and employers who are now faced with the challenge of planning for and funding sick leaves amidst declining revenues and increasing staffing costs as they begin to reopen. With strict zero tolerance in the workplace for showing up with any symptoms of illness (WorkSafeBC), it is critical for employers to expect and plan for increases in sick leave before the predicted second wave of COVID-19 hits. In particular, this means contingency planning for the following areas:

1.     Funding for both sick leave and any extra coverage required to maintain services and outputs.

2.     Staffing substitutions (a.k.a. short-term, temporary succession planning) to ensure coverage at all levels and minimize disruption to core functions and services.

To ensure that your business or organization has what it needs to support staff who are sick and those still at work, let the 3 Cs of sick time planning inform your next steps. Because each workplace is unique, this is not meant to be prescriptive, but rather a guide to keep in mind when establishing what will work best for you.

GET CREATIVE

If you are a small business, you are well versed in the art of creative responses to problems, so don’t be afraid to get creative with your sick leave planning in the face of the pandemic. If money is already tight and you don’t have a policy of paid sick leave, push yourself to think outside the box.

For example, maybe you request an all-staff meeting to generate ideas on how you can all support each other when someone gets sick and is unable to come to work and together you come up with a list of staff who are willing to cover and be compensated in lieu time so that the staff member who is ill can continue to be paid. Many staff have fewer extracurriculars scheduled and may be more flexible than usual, so asking for volunteers who can swap shifts on short notice with others who fall ill is a good place to start.

BE CONSIDERATE

Next, ensure that all your planning is underpinned by careful consideration of the needs to have a safe, supported workplace for your staff and the needs of your organization to stay in business and resolve to get creative when it seems the two cannot be met simultaneously. Because they can. And they have to – public safety protocols demand it. Being considerate also means communicating to all staff that you have their backs if they think they are ill, no matter what it turns out to be in the end, and that you support and trust their decision to stay home always.

STAY COST EFFECTIVE

 The final C of getting really cost effective in your planning will also help to keep doors open and employees safe. Where can you cut spending in order to have extra sick leave funding available? Which staff members are willing and able to train in other areas now so that they can jump into different functions at times of need in the future? Do staff have other skills sets and experience already that enable them to pivot as/when needed, with no extra training required?

Something we have appreciated about our federal leadership during this time is how quickly it rushed to get financial aid to Canadians who needed it, stating that now was not the time to worry about that tiny minority of people who might abuse it. We believe all employers and managers need to take this same attitude toward sick time and leave in the workplace. We know people are going to need it, they will have to take it, and we must do everything we can to enable and support it. To best position yourself and your teams to weather whatever comes next, don’t wait – start planning now.

Leading From Home: What Managers Need to Think About

By now most leaders are getting into the swing of things working from home. We have all made it through the initial phases of an unexpected remote work arrangement and kept our teams safe in the process. Some of us may have even figured out (maybe only by trial and error, but it still counts) how to keep our teams engaged and motivated working remotely.    

But it’s one thing to lead a remote team on a temporary basis. What’s now becoming clear is that this “new normal” is likely here for longer than we’d hoped. Though in many places we are beginning to see a loosening of restrictions, we also know that leaders in every industry are being called to re-evaluate what work looks like. In many cases, continuing to work at home just makes more sense than asking staff to come back to the office. 

If that’s your business, and you’re considering making remote work a longer-term arrangement, there are a few crucial elements to consider in more depth. 

The first is continuing to stay flexible, while recognizing that new schedules need to be sustainable longer term now. This means collaborating with staff to balance the needs of the business with the demands of their home life. Work with your team members so that work hours are sustainable for them and fit their lives. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to co-create realistic schedules that meet the needs of the business while accommodating the lives of your team members. For example, team members might need to schedule meetings around nap times, and build in extra breaks throughout the day. As long as the work gets done, it’s time to loosen up restrictions about when the work gets done. 

 Mention the words “occupational health and safety” (especially right now) and most leaders are less than excited. But, a second crucial work from home consideration is workplace safety. Even though employees might not be in the office anymore, their safety and wellbeing while working remotely is still something you need to think about as an employer. Their home is an extension of the workplace, which means making sure there are policies and supports in place to address accident reporting, ergonomics, and working alone concerns. The good news is that WorkSafe BC has work from home guides, resources and checklists for leaders, so there’s no need to start from scratch.

A third consideration is accountability. When people are physically present in the same space, measuring contribution and outputs is relatively easy. But remote accountability goes beyond setting and following through on project plans and timelines that have always been part of a leader’s job description. Building a culture of accountability while working at home is a bigger “ask” that involves a leap of faith on the part of managers. Leaders of remote teams must truly learn to trust their employees will deliver, while still providing enough support to them in the form of check-points, resources, and nudges. This means formalizing and improving on systems for accountability, while increasing touch points so that everyone on the team is in the loop on expectations and knows what they’re responsible for (leaders included). 

To accomplish this, coaching is an invaluable tool in fostering accountability. Get any issues out into the open pre-emptively by asking questions like “What challenges are you facing right now?” or “Are there any obstacles you can anticipate with this?” or “What can I do to support you on this project?” 

Not sure what a coaching approach looks like or where to start? Reach out to discuss, as we’re happy to share some ideas with you.  

Restart Check In: Week 1

Now officially heading into week 2 of Phase 2 of B.C.’s Restart Plan, it is a good time for employers to reflect on how week 1 went and integrate any lessons learned into planning for the weeks ahead. It is one thing, as we all know, to have a plan on paper, and another when that plan is put into practice. It has never been more important for employers to start and maintain a regular practice of reflection that is informed by and improves upon best practices.

Some questions to reflect on as you look back on Week 1, Phase 2:  

·         What worked? What didn’t?

·         Were staffing levels adequate?

·         How are staff managing?

·         What was the overall pulse of the workplace – is it calm and comfortable or nervous?

·         How successful overall would you rate that first week in terms of balancing mandatory requirements for safe operations against any anxieties, fears and worries from both staff and clients?

We know provincial protocols around workplace safety and public health protection during the pandemic are not going to change any time soon. If your workplace has already reopened, I trust you and your staff are already well versed in the necessary protocols. Physical distancing, frequent sanitation of work spaces, controlled exits, entrances, and gathering places, and zero tolerance for illness of any kind are here to stay.

But it does not mean that, as employers, you do not have the ability to work within those parameters to adapt and shift your reopening plan as you see fit to better ensure your workplace is both compliant with provincial protocols and also that your workplace is a positive and productive space to be for staff and clients.

As our highly esteemed and widely adored Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, has repeated from the outset, “We are not going to get everything perfect…We do the best we can”. As employers, I urge you to treat your planning with the same level of resolute commitment: always refer back to the knowledge and guidelines available to you and don’t hesitate to make any changes when it is clear they are needed.

For example, if after last week you realize you could use more or fewer onsite staff, then immediately begin to scale up or back accordingly. Perhaps your staff needs breaks more frequently throughout the day to help combat stress levels; maybe you offer a “Stitch a smile on your mask” challenge to inject some fun and make your workplace feel more welcoming to clients.

Comply while still getting creative. Be unwavering in your dedication to public safety while staying nimble in the delivery of your plan. Stay current and informed. And if you need a hand, we’re happy to connect with you to discuss.

For the full WorkSafe BC COVID-19 Safety plan, click here.