Talent Insider

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Considering Returning to In-Person Interviews? Read This First

To interview in person or not...it is a complicated question that many an employer is beginning to ask. How can they once again begin to meet candidates face-to-face while adhering to local safety guidelines? This question is really two-fold. First, what are the advantages of returning to face-to-face interviews over virtual, if any? And, second, how do we do so safely?

Should we return to in-person hiring?

As a species, we are social. Can virtual interaction fulfill that social drive, and enable our primal senses to translate body language, eye contact, and subtle cues through a computer screen? According to the authors of “Getting to know you: Face-to-face versus online interactions,” it can’t.

The research performed in the study including having people interact with another person twice, once face-to-face, and once virtually. The results were clear. The face-to-face interaction resulted in more positive impressions between partners than those over the computer. The study also found that face-to-face participants had a greater “self-other agreement”, meaning their views of how they were seen and saw the other person aligned.

The bottom line, according to Nicole Plumridge in PsychMinds is “Overall, face-to-face communication fosters higher-quality interactions than online communication.”

Virtual interactions aren’t all bad, though.

Obviously, given current safety concerns and mandates, virtual interactions are here to stay. And they definitely have their benefits. Virtual hiring has reduced cost per hire as it relates to flying candidates out for interviews and has greatly expanded the talent pool if the position will also be remote. Virtual hiring is a great resource and is here to stay, but it needs to be integrated with in-person hiring, so we don’t, as they say, “Throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

How do we safely return to face-to-face hiring?

Mike Starich, CEO of Orion Talent, recently explored this subject in his article in Recruiting Daily, “Recruiters Weigh In: Are We Ready for In-person Hiring Events?”. In it, he explores how we might return to in-person hiring events seven months into the pandemic. He does so through the lens of Orion’s recent survey of HR and Talent Acquisition leaders, and hiring managers from companies of varying sizes and geographic regions on their opinion of returning to hiring events.

Of the 125 respondents, opinion was pretty evenly spread out when asked when they would return to an in-person hiring event. Twenty-four percent did say they were ready to return to in-person interviews and hiring events. So with this in mind, we asked what precautions would make our clients feel safe.

Consider these three things to have a successful in-person hiring event.

VENUE SETTING

Determine if your candidates value being indoors or outdoors, in a private room or conference hall, and create a safe environment.

SAFETY COMPLIANCE

Implement strict monitoring of social distancing, use of masks, temperature checks, and the availability of hand sanitizers, protecting both your employees and candidates.

QUALITY OF CANDIDATES

Quality is even more paramount when there is any perceived risk in interviewing, so consider virtually pre-screening candidates so in-person time is more efficiently spent with pre-qualified candidates.

“Pandemic or not, companies need to keep hiring,” concludes Mike, “There is no one-size-fits-all answer for when the time is right to resume in-person hiring events. The best solution we have is to keep in close touch with the changing needs of our customers and stay informed, flexible, and patient as we work to keep ourselves and our current and future employees comfortable and safe.”

Whether you are sticking with virtual interviews as your strategy for the time being or considering in-person hiring events, Orion Talent can help you best leverage your chosen method. Explore our services and reach out for some recruitment guidance here.

How to Navigate COVID-related Hiring Obstacles with Outsourced Recruiting - Part 1

The world has changed. It is easy to look at how COVID has affected us on a personal level - mask requirements, social distancing, travel, the unprecedented school year, etc. - but what about your business?

Over the next two weeks, we’ll explore the different ways COVID is impacting companies' abilities to staff to appropriate levels and discuss why an outsourced recruiting solution is a great option in our current climate.

Let’s start by reviewing a few ways that COVID-19 has impacted corporate America:

Budget decreases
Most businesses struggled through March, April, May, June, and July and looked to decrease costs wherever possible. On the chopping block - travel, new hires, jobs, pay, and EXTERNAL RECRUITERS! Reducing spending on external or internal recruiters is one of the easiest and quickest ways to reduce cost. This is effective in the short term, but how do you find talent once you look to hire again, especially when the budget is still restricted?

Uncertainty / Difficult to Forecast Production
This seems to be one of the biggest issues companies are facing. As an example, one food production company shared with us that one part of their business is growing due to demand with grocers, but other areas are at a stand-still due to lack of need with schools and restaurants being closed, partially open, or operating at reduced capacity. Many Talent Acquisition leaders are now unable to predict / project hiring past 2-3 months.

Layoffs / Furloughs & Impact of CARES Act
Unemployment numbers have recently surged to over 13%, a number we have not seen since the Great Depression. The government stepped in with the CARES Act, which included an enhanced unemployment package, to assist people through these challenging times. These steps helped everyone through a rough couple of months. The good news is that quite a few companies are looking to hire again.

Working From Home / Training New Employees
An astounding number of people made the move from their office to working from home. How has this affected recruiting? Managers must adapt to new interview processes and also train new employees. This has led to slower hiring processes and indecisiveness when it comes to deciding to offer a candidate a job. Slower cycle times lead to losing the best talent.

Stay tuned next week for a look at how an outsourced recruiting solution can help you navigate these issues and ensure you are bringing the best talent into your organization. In the meantime, you can visit our webpage to learn more about Orion’s RPO Solutions.

Four Reasons to Consider Outsourced Recruiting

Outsourced recruiting, known as Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), is an overall business strategy in which sourcing, recruiting, and hiring (in whole or part) is outsourced to an expert to positively productivity and profitability. And, as this recruiting method gains in popularity, we think it a great time to share four reasons, courtesy of Accolo, an Orion Talent Company, to utilize RPO through Orion Talent.

1. Best Fit

RPOs encourage sourcing from ALL resources to find great talent. They source candidates on their own, through employee referral programs, and the company career site to help you find the BEST FIT candidate for your open positions.

That means that an RPO is not only managing the recruiting function to find top talent from any available resource, but they are also helping you to build your employer brand.

2. Candidate Ownership

RPOs don’t “own” the candidates they present. You own your own candidates, whether the RPO sourced them directly or they came into your pipeline through a company website or employee referral.

3. Beyond Placements

RPO manages the entire recruiting function. A true RPO takes care of the people, process, technology, and strategy of recruiting. That means doing everything from writing job descriptions and candidate screening to improving hiring manager satisfaction and employee branding. RPOs view their relationships with clients as a long-term, strategic partnership with built-in accountability to ensure a consistent talent pipeline.

4. Expense

RPOs typically charge a monthly management fee to manage the entire hiring function, along with some transactional fees to fill individual positions. When all is said and done, the total cost of an RPO ends up being 60% to 75% less than what some agencies charge, plus you get the added advantage of freeing up the internal team to accomplish other tasks.

Whether it be through Enterprise, Project, or Blended RPO, you can enjoy all the benefits of RPO with Orion Talent’s RPO Solutions. We can help elevate your recruiting department while we manage the people, process, technology platform, and strategy to boost your hiring performance. Learn more about our RPO Solutions here and determine if RPO is right for your organization.

Improve Hiring Manager Satisfaction with RPO - INFOGRAPHIC

Are your Hiring Managers unsatisfied or frustrated? If so, did you know it’s impacting more than just employee morale? Unsatisfied Hiring Managers can result in lower productivity, less engagement throughout the process, increased work for other team members, and hiring candidates who do not have the necessary skills to succeed.

Check out our new infographic below to learn how unsatisfied hiring managers are affecting your business, and learn how Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) through Orion Talent has resulted in an average of 91% Hiring Manager Satisfaction.

On-Demand Virtual Hiring Events Through Orion Talent

 
In addition to our scheduled industry- and region-specific virtual hiring events, we are excited to offer our clients the ability to customize an On-Demand Virtual Hiring Event. These events are catered to your scheduling, recruiting, and compliance needs, enabling you to overcome travel and social distancing restrictions, all while meeting your ongoing recruiting needs.
 
Orion Talent On-Demand Virtual Hiring Events serve nearly all industries and include benefits like:
 
 
With an Orion Talent On-Demand Virtual Hiring Event you can recruit skilled specialists and professionals for a wide range of permanent and contingent roles. All we need to know to get started is:
 
- What positions would you like to fill?
- How many candidates would you like to hire?
- When would you like to virtually interview Orion's candidates?
 
We take it from there and set you up with military talent ready to start a new career with your company. Before you know it, you have recruited top leaders and technicians, without having to leave your office, just like the environmental engineering firm below.
 
 
Whether you are looking to ramp up hiring for project based needs, are seeking a company-wide coordinated Military Talent Strategy, or need to fill just a few positions, Orion virtual interviews make it faster and easier to interview the right Military Talent. Contact us today, and put the industry's most committed, outcome-driven recruitment force to work for you today!

Military Hiring Conferences

Interview Junior Military Officers, Noncommissioned Officers and Enlisted Technicians Recruited for your Hiring Needs

An Orion Hiring Conference is your chance to interview the best military job seekers, selected specifically for your open positions. You will be presented with pre-screened, qualified and suitably matched veterans that are interested in your available opportunities. Click on the dates below to learn more about our upcoming hiring conferences.

Virtual 

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According to our Clients

Refer a Military Job Seeker or Client Company to Orion

job seeker
If you would like the chance to win a $50 gift card, enter into our monthly drawings for Client referrals and Job Seeker referrals. If your referral results in a hire, you will personally receive a $100 gift card as our way of saying thank you. As always, we will maintain your privacy and never share your information nor that of your referral. That's one entry for each referral that you submit - good luck and thank you for the referral!

James Crowe won the Job Seeker Referral monthly drawing
and is the winner of a $50 gift card.