Last week, we invited a group of our most engaged customers to join us in Chicago for our August Customer Connect event. Despite these leaders belonging to a variety of industries, they all united over common hiring challenges and how Hireology helps them win. Those unable to physically attend were still able to be part of the fun by joining our virtual viewing.
This Customer Connect session was the largest in-person group we’ve hosted since the onset of COVID-19. We focused this event on how businesses need to hire empathetically if they want to make the hires they need. While streamlining processes and offering incentives other than pay can influence a qualified candidate to join your team, much of the decision relies heavily on other intangible factors in the hiring process.
August’s Customer Connect agenda began with a warm welcome from Customer Marketing Manager Kirsten Rossow, followed by Hireology CEO Adam Robinson’s keynote presentation on Gen Z and how they’re altering the workplace norms. After Adam, Hireology’s Director of Product Marketing Alan Dodaro led attendees through recent changes to the platform that were facilitated by feedback from customers just like them. Hireology Vice President of People Terry Adams led the panel discussion surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion.
After a hosted lunch, virtual and in-person attendees split into separate breakout groups to get a backstage pass to new and exciting developments to Hireology referrals led by Danny Wheeland and the surprising results from the applicant survey that participants took before arriving.
Key takeaways from Customer Connect
Gen Z is defining the new workplace
Gen Z (made up of folks 25 and under) is quickly becoming the most densely populated generation in the modern workplace; they are expected to make up 36% of the workforce by the end of 2022. In Adam’s keynote presentation, he acknowledged that app-based employment is still the biggest pressure in the market, but focused more so on ways to speak directly to Gen Z to sell them on your company. He noted that because of the pandemic, it’s common for folks from this generation to have never worked in a physical office.
Based on this and other factors, Adam speculated that we have entered into a permanent state of hybrid work that is the new normal — and as such, managers need to undergo a mindset shift to meet their younger employees. Employees need to be trusted to get their work done while being given the flexibility to work when and how they want. The strategy to use now is to sell the product (a job) that your customer (ideal applicant) wants to buy — and that starts with telling the applicant that you have them and you’re going to take care of them. Lead with flexibility and offer the support they need to live the life they want.
Importance of diversity and inclusion
Diversity and inclusion are critically important for businesses today. Not only does a good diversity strategy help you attract more applicants and drive better business results (because a diverse range of perspectives results in better business outcomes), but also because it’s the right thing to do. But of course improving diversity and inclusion isn’t easy, nor is it something that happens over night. The panel suggested focusing on expanding your applicant sources to channels that drive more diverse applicants, implementing unconscious bias training for your recruiters and hiring managers, and writing in your job descriptions that folks do not have to meet every job requirement to be considered (especially women and people of color).
Designing jobs that attract workers
According to a recent Hireology survey, 84% of applicants said they’d choose a lower paying job so long as their other needs were met. For employers this means that you do not have to out-pay your competitors, instead you can attract great talent by offering the benefits people want. So what exactly do people want? When we surveyed applicants, flexibility, career growth, and fulfilling work were the top three answers. Interestingly, when we asked attendees to guess what they felt their employees wanted, no one chose fulfilling work. This indicates that there is still a gap between what employers think people want and what workers say they actually want. The key is getting on the same page with your talent pool, building out your offerings, and marketing them effectively through employer branding techniques.
Hireology product updates
We also covered several exciting Hireology product updates that are slated to be released in the coming months, including:
- Instant notifications to your phone: We took our customers’ lead to add instant notifications to the iOS app, as it was so highly requested. Now, when your open role receives a new application awaiting review, you’ll receive a push notification to your phone alerting you. You’ll also receive alerts when a candidate emails or text you back. Plus, you’ll be one of the first to know of any updates to the app thanks to this new alert feature.
- Panel interview scheduling enablement: When we initially launched interview scheduling on our platform, it was a massive success. Since implementation in February, over 12,000 interviews have been set — that’s 500,000 minutes, or roughly a year, of productivity given back to our customers while Hireology does the heavy lifting. We’re taking this a step further after hearing feedback from our users; our new panel interview scheduling feature will allow for up to 5 different hiring managers to have their schedules synced and availability selected for a panel interview. The update will launch later this fall.
- Updates to Hireology Referrals: Big news surrounding EmployUs, the employee referral program software we acquired a year ago. Coming soon, the platform will now be known at Hireology Referrals, with all the same bells and whistles that our customers have come to love. In fact, it has been interesting how customers have used the products to do more than just ask employees for referrals, which we know is the best way to hire and convert candidates to your newest source of hires. With this rebranding, Hireology Referrals will allow users to manage candidate reengagement, create alumni employee networks, install passive talent pipelines, foster internal mobility within your organization, and integrate with HRIS to take the manual entry out of the process.
Last week’s event was our third Customer Connect of the year. We’re already hard at work planning our next one, so stay tuned for updates around dates and travel information. As always, if you’re not yet a customer and are interested in becoming a part of our community, reach out to us today!