Category: Employee Engagement

Checking In: Updating Your Hospitality Recruitment Strategies for the New World of Work

Posted on by nfuqua

Travel is back, but hospitality employers are still playing catch up. Travelers around the world are booking flights, checking into hotel rooms, making reservations and buying tickets. Brands are attracting customers but struggling to attract employees with the right hospitality recruitment strategies.

In 2020, the size of the global tourism market fell by nearly a trillion dollars as travel came to a halt. The industry finally surpassed its prepandemic highs in 2023, reaching a market size of $2.3 trillion (USD). But employment in the industry lags behind. In the U.S. alone, nearly 2 million hospitality jobs remain unfilled, according to the Washington Post.

The old hospitality recruitment strategies aren’t working anymore. The world of work has changed.  Many sectors have expanded the availability of remote and hybrid work, and many front-line hospitality workers left the industry for more flexible roles.

Employers must update their employer branding and candidate attraction strategies to draw in top hospitality talent. In this article, we cover the hospitality brain drain and provide hospitality recruitment strategies that talent leaders can put into place now to get ahead of the competition.

The Hospitality Industry Brain Drain

One of the largest lasting impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic is the permanent loss of talent.  as workers fled the travel and hospitality industry for more stable, more flexible or less customer-facing positions. While employment in the hospitality sector still lags, professional and business services saw 1.4 million new jobs added during the pandemic.

Rather than returning to employment in hotels or with airlines, many laid off workers looked for behind-the-scenes office work where they were offered more flexibility, more traditional hours and often higher pay.

In 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported record quit rates during the Great Resignation, with the quit rate in leisure and hospitality jumping by a percentage point to 6.4%.

This phenomenon, sometimes called “brain drain,” has left hospitality employers with not just fewer workers but also those with less experience. This has led to increased competition for experienced hospitality workers and often increased time-to-fill rates for more specialized hospitality roles. Talent leaders must work to coax experienced workers back to the industry while also focusing on the next generation. Below, we outline three strategies to bring back and bring in hospitality talent.

Top 3 Hospitality Recruitment Strategies

1. It’s Time to Update Your Employer Brand

In today’s talent market, hospitality employers need to stand out in a crowded field of competition. Your employer value proposition and employer brand will be what convinces top talent to join your organization, rather than the hotel down the street or the customer service job that will allow them to take calls from their home offices.

However, after the past several years, few have had the resources to invest in and update their employer brands. If you haven’t refreshed your employer brand in a few years, now is the time. Each hospitality brand has its own distinctive personality and style that should be reflected in both consumer marketing and employer branding.

Your employer value proposition, or EVP, is the foundation of your employer brand. Your EVP describes the give and get between employer and employee. At PeopleScout, our EVP work has five phases:

  1. Define
  2. Discover
  3. Develop
  4. Design
  5. Deploy

In the define stage, we build a baseline understanding of you and your competition through competitor audits, social listening, candidate experience diagnostics and collaborative sessions. In the discover phase, we go deeper to understand what makes your organization unique through interviews with leaders and employees throughout the organization.

From there, we analyze the data and develop an EVP prototype that we validate through workshops and interviews with employees. In the design phase, we create the creative concepts to bring your EVP to life with an employer brand playbook and employer brand toolkit. These include deliverables like EVP positioning and messaging, social media posts and ads, and printed materials like posters and exhibition stands for job fairs.

Finally, we deploy, focusing on an employee ambassador program that helps your current employees share their stories with prospective candidates. From there, your EVP and brand can flex and evolve to adapt to changing candidate expectations.

By honing your employer value proposition and attraction messaging, you can zero in the characteristics you need for the variety of roles you need filled. By shifting your mindset from focusing on getting the most applications, or even those with certain experience, to getting applications with the right profile, you can reduce attrition by increasing the likelihood of your new hires being successful.

2. Are Your Offers and Benefits Competitive?

The leisure and hospitality sector has seen some of the highest wage increases across all employers in recent years. In the U.S., wages in hospitality have risen 23% over the past three years. Additionally, workers have more options for hybrid or flexible work in other industries where the pay is similar or even higher. This makes it more difficult for hospitality employers to compete. According to the Boston Hospitality Review, compensation was one of the most cited reasons that people left the hospitality industry during the pandemic.

To stand out in this market, you need offers that are not only competitive in terms of salary but also provide the types of flexibility and benefits that candidates are looking for and can likely find in other industries. Hospitality candidates are increasingly interested in remote work. Google searches for “remote hotel jobs” have increased about 400% since 2019.

Many hospitality jobs require being on site, making hybrid work only possible for a small percentage of roles; however, employers should evaluate and offer the option when possible. Additionally, consider flexible work arrangements or scheduling that would allow front-line workers time to do things like pick children up from school.

Other benefits can also help bring in or bring back hospitality workers. While 88% of employees say that health benefits are important to them, only 30% of restaurants offer medical insurance. Not every employer will have the budget for health insurance, so consider other benefits, like caregiver benefits, parental leave or a commuting allowance.

You can also consider different compensation models. Consider a salaried front-of-house staff. According to Monster, employers who pay their front of house staff a salary gain an advantage for attracting top talent, and those workers create a better customer experience because they aren’t focused on “turn-and-burn” tactics. You can also consider profit sharing or bonuses to help attract and retain employees.

3. Focus on Culture

Your company culture may not be listed as a line item on a paystub, but it can serve as a benefit for attracting top talent in a tough industry. In any customer-facing role, employees can be subject to stressful situations, but a supportive culture can increase employee retention.

One survey found that 91% of hospitality workers have dealt with customers who believed they inherently deserved privileges or special treatment. Of those workers, 70% wanted to leave the industry entirely after confronting a demanding consumer. Employers need to ensure that they not only meet traveler expectations but also keep workers happy and focus on retention.

Hospitality employers should focus on building a supportive culture. This should start from day one with structured training and can include things like mentorship programs to support new employees and help them feel like part of the team. Additionally, consider adding wellness programs that include things like counseling or employee assistance programs.

Finally, the travel and hospitality sector has a unique opportunity to build a fun culture by creating ways for employees to enjoy the services normally provided to guests. This can look like VIP perks for employees and their friends and families, discounted meals or free meals during shifts, yearly overnight stays at hotels to celebrate work anniversaries or discounted tickets to events.

Choosing the Right Hospitality Recruiting Strategies

Candidate expectations are always changing, so hospitality employers need to find the recruitment strategies that work best to attract the right candidates at the right time. An experienced RPO provider can help talent leaders narrow down the best solutions and help build an employer brand to bring in top talent with the right skills and mindset.

To get more strategies for attracting and hiring hospitality, travel and tourism talent, download our Recruitment Handbook for Travel and Hospitality.

The Recruitment Handbook for Travel and Hospitality

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Attracting Older Workers to Retail and Hospitality Jobs

Posted on by cevans

According to a global study by Bain & Company, workers aged 55 and older make up over 25% of the workforce in G7 countries by 2031, making older workers one of the most in-demand talent pools for employers today. In the UK, the government launched a “returnership” initiative to inspire those over the age of 50 to come back to work or to seek a career change. This scheme involves three programs that help older workers retrain and learn new skills, providing workers with a clear roadmap back into the workplace and encouraging organizations to hire them. In Western Australia, the Job Reconnect program provides grants to both employers and employees to cover costs related to licences, upskilling, and even work clothing, transport and childcare.

It’s crucial for retail and hospitality employers to know how to entice older workers back to work and to make the most of their valuable talent. Known as the ‘sandwich generation’—defined by caring for their elderly parents and also dependent children or grandchildren—older works have a strong work ethic. Customer facing and front of house roles enable them to fit work around caring for family and other responsibilities.

Keep reading for key insights from our panel discussion and get the latest research to understand exactly what older workers want and what retail and hospitality organizations can do attract this in-demand demographic.

What Do Older Workers Want?

What do over 50s want and need from an employer? Does your organization know how to attract and engage this older workforce and how to hire and retain them?

Flexibility

Unsurprisingly, monetary concerns are coaxing older workers back into the workplace due to the cost-of-living crisis. However, when it comes to choosing an employer, flexibility takes precedence over money.

Hospitality roles typically attract a younger demographic of workers. However, the flexibility offered by these jobs also appeals to the older working generation. Given that the over 50s are the largest age group with caring roles, flexible and part-time work is a powerful motivator for them to fit a job into their routine.  

As well as permanent roles, seasonal and flexible roles are available within the hospitality and retail industries, which can be more attractive to the older working community. Working harder in those seasonal months creates work-life balance, allowing older workers to take time off during quieter periods to recover and be with their friends and family.

Sense of Belonging

Workers in this age rage are still searching for rewarding work. Older workers wish to find a place where they can feel a part of their local community and give back. Over 50s enjoy creating social connections that a customer-facing job in a restaurant or supermarket can provide.

Customer-facing roles in hospitality and retail give individuals the chance to serve and connect with their community. For older customers, seeing employees in shops and restaurants that represent them can boost the customer experience. 

Myths About Older Workers

There are plenty of misconceptions out there from employers and colleagues about hiring and working with older workers. Consider these myths busted.

Myth 1: Older Workers are Resistant to Technology

Certain words can be viewed as a turn off for an over 50s audience, including “tech-savvy”, which some see as a way to ward off older candidates. There are older people who will feel excluded because others wrongly perceive that they’re less capable with technology, when in fact they are part of a generation that has seen huge advancements in technology. Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is in his late 60s, and Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple is in his early 60s.

Recognise that all colleagues work differently with technology, so you must be thoughtful in your use of training. In hospitality and retail, workers are likely to be using tills and sales computer systems. Regardless of whether a person struggles with technology, an organization should have a strong program in place to support workers as they learn how to use these tools. For example, consider implementing a buddy system of workers and leaders who will happily help new employees in their first few weeks as they learn point-of-sale systems.

Myth 2: Absences are Higher Because of Health Issues

As people get older, their health can decline. However, this doesn’t mean that absenteeism is higher amongst older workers. In fact, older workers are more likely to have higher everyday attendance rates due to their strong work ethic. When you do see sickness or absence, it is typically in the form of long-term leave, rather than the odd day here and there.

Myth 3: Older Workers are Less Productive Than Younger Workers

A study demonstrated that there was no different between younger and older workers in terms of productivity. This study found that with their years of experience and memories, older people perhaps dismiss new information when they process things and instead use past information. It’s therefore important to acknowledge that older workers aren’t doing things worse, they just do these things differently through their years of experience.

What Can Organizations Do to Attract Older Workers?

So, how can retail and hospitality organization tap into this hard-working talent pool? Here are four questions to ask to ensure your talent acquisition program is over-50s friendly.

Are Your Candidate Attraction Materials Inclusive for Everyone?

To attract older workers, you must think more creatively and broadly.  Use community-based websites to engage with people who live close to your locations. Show how the job will fit into their lifestyle and what it would be like for an older person to work there, rather than a generic message. Create testimonials from your current employees to support this.

Make sure that your imagery is diverse, featuring people of all ages. Look at your marketing materials and ensure that it reflects the community so that over 50s can see that jobs in hospitality are here for them. Take advantage of local community-boards in community centers and supermarkets.

How is Your Candidate Experience?

Retention and attraction are very different. Employers can encourage people to apply for jobs through their advertisements, yet ultimately, it is down to the experience the candidate has during the recruitment process, induction and beyond. The candidate experience is what will make them accept the position and stay at the company. 

When younger workers leave education, they’re taught how to answer competency-based interview questions and how to write a resume. The older generation of workers likely won’t have a resume and may not have experience with this kind of interview. Is your interview process age inclusive and relevant to them?

Are You Giving Them What They Want?

Now that we’ve shared what older workers want, is your organization serious about flexible shift patterns? Over 40% of the part-time workforce is aged over 50. Not only does this part-time schedule work in hospitality, but also in retail, in which the holiday season creates a huge demand for workers.

Different shift patterns in retail can support individuals in their family commitments and lifestyle. Look at your employees’ caring responsibilities, for partners, for children, for elderly parents, and take this into account when creating your shift offerings.

But what else does this generation want from you? Everyone responds well to positive feedback. Both the retail and hospitality industries are great at celebrating successes, shown through brilliant behavior and examples across organizations.

Finally, show that your organization values them by offering benefit packages. Health is a priority for everyone as we get older, and health benefits can help to attract them to your organization.

Does Your Anti-Bias Training Include Age?

Ageism usually gets the least amount of focus across the DE&I plan. Train your leaders and hiring managers on unconscious bias particularly as it relates to age. Ensure there are no biases lurking in the recruitment process to open up talent pools instead of closing them down.

FUTURE OF WORK

DESTINATION 2030: 10 PREDICTIONS FOR WHAT’S NEXT IN THE WORLD OF WORK

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The Multigenerational Workforce: Keeping Millennials Motivated

Posted on by cevans

In this article, the third in our Multigenerational Workforce series, we’ll be focusing on millennials in the workplace, including what matters to them and how best to engage them.

By 2025, millennials will make up over half of the workforce, essentially replacing retiring Baby Boomers. They’ve already made a huge impact on the way we work, including leveraging technology to revolutionise productivity. As the older millennials enter their 40s, they’re moving into leadership roles and will have even more influence on how organizations operate into the future. So, how can employers harness the power of millennials to drive their businesses forward?

Who are Millennials?

Millennials, less commonly known as Generation Y, follow Gen X and precede Gen Z. Millennials were born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s during the rise of personal computers and technology, making them tech-savvy. They’re the first generation to come of age in the new millennium, hence the name millennials. They are also known to be values-driven.

Workers from this generation are bound together through their shared experience of financial challenges, including the 2008 Great Recession, which caused a 19% unemployment rate and massive student loan debt among millennials. As a result, members of this generation are more likely to find themselves underemployed or self-employed.

Perceptions and Misperceptions

This generation have been characterized as lazy and narcissistic, labelled as “Generation Me.” Other common perceptions include being easily bored and hopping from job to job rather than staying with one employer. However, this could be due to the anxiety caused from the global financial crash.

Despite these stereotypes, millennials have been described as self-sufficient, solving their own issues and teaching themselves through the internet rather than relying on others for help. They are also known to be confident, curious and open-minded.

What Matters to Millennials in the Workplace?

Digital & Tech Skills

Having been the first generation to grow up in a digital world, millennials have widespread experience of the development of technology, being both the “pioneers and the guinea pigs”.

This has affected the way that they communicate, with 41% of millennials choosing to communicate electronically instead of face-to-face according to a study by PwC. However, they’re also the last generation to have grown up in a world without the internet in every household.

When considering a job, 59% of millennials claim that technology in the workplace is an important factor. Employers are responding to this by encouraging professional use of social media at work and introducing smartphones as an employee benefit.

Mission and Purpose

Millennials thrive in a workplace that is mission-driven, keeping them motivated and inspired. In our recent report, Inside the Candidate Experience, we found that mission and purpose were the second most important factor for millennials when considering a new job. Those who work for companies with this as a priority feel more accomplished. Millennials want to share their employer’s goals and values in order to feel they are contributing to the world.

Millennials in the workplace
(Source: Inside the Candidate Experience 2023 Report)

Collaboration

The move to a more collaborative working environment has been driven by millennials through the use of technology as it’s become more sophisticated. A collaborative environment allows workers to speak their ideas freely and feel a sense of belonging as part of a team. One way that employers are emphasizing collaboration is through mentorship programs, which have been proven to increase the happiness of workers and their productivity.

How Do You Engage Millennials at Work?

As millennials slowly take over as the majority of the workforce, employers must learn strategies to keep them motivated and feeling valued.

1. Be Open and Transparent

Millennials want openness and transparency from their leaders, ensuring their confidence through factual information that can be validated.

Keep millennials productive by creating clear targets are regular opportunities for feedback and praise. In fact, according to the same PwC study, 51% of this demographic believe that frequent or continuous feedback is a must on the job, making up a huge part of what keeps them motivated and engaged in their work.

2. Embrace Teamwork

To manage a multigenerational workforce, leaders must recognize that each generation may need different methods of management. Among millennials, 74% expressed that they are as happy working alongside other generations as with their own. So, it’s unsurprising to find millennials now managing older workers.

However, 34% of millennials felt that their personal drive could be perceived as intimidating to other generations. Effective programs that encourage interactions between different generations are necessary to overcome these misperceptions. For example, millennials thrive in opportunities such as “reverse mentoring,” in which they are able to learn from and teach skills to older workers.

3. Invest in Employee Development

Millennials look at their work as a means to learn and develop, which may be the greatest differentiator between them and all other generations. Indeed, a whopping 87% of millennials say that growth and development opportunities are important to them in a job, compared to just 69% of non-millennials. Offering opportunities to develop technology skills and interpersonal skills will not only help you retain millennial employees, it will help you ensure this important segment of your workforce is ready to step into leadership roles.

4. Trust Them

While millennials want to be supported through feedback and praise, they also want the freedom to “be their own boss.” Flexibility is important to millennials in the workplace.They’ll happily put in the long hours if they believe their work has a purpose, but those hours may not be during the traditional 9-to-5.

Millennials believe that success should be evaluated through productivity, rather than the number of hours they are seen in an office. If they meet the deadlines you set, don’t be concerned about the hours they clock in and out. Focus on creating a flexible work culture to maximize millennial engagement, allowing employees to have more control over their working hours and location.

5. Lead with Your Values

Millennials are searching for more than “just a job” and want to achieve something worthwhile. Akin to Gen Z, millennials believe that companies and their leadership should be contributing positively to society. Strong corporate ethics will encourage loyalty among millennials.

A report from Deloitte found that 54% of millennials research a brand’s environmental impact and polices before accepting a job offer. To keep up with today’s candidates, it’s vital that organizations have updated employer value propositions (EVP) showcase the companies intentions to address social and environmental concerns.

In our multigenerational workplace, each generation will shape the world of work in their own way, and each will need different things from their working lives. Millennials bring commitment and collaboration to the workplace. In return, they want opportunities to grow and collaborate. Organizations that can effectively empower millennials to provide ethical leadership hold key to keeping them engaged.

Find out our top 10 predictions for what we think the working world will look like in 2030 and the best practices to prepare for the future in our Destination 2030 report.

Future of Work

Destination 2030: 10 Predictions for What’s NEXT in the World of Work

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[On-Demand] Harnessing Social Media & the Creator Economy to Amplify Your EVP

Posted on by akessler

Harnessing Social Media & the Creator Economy to Amplify Your EVP

During RecFest 2023 Robert Peasnell and Ayo Ogunde delivered a session on the Resourcing Leaders stage titled: ‘Harnessing Social Media & The Creator Economy to Amplify your EVP’.

Many joined us for the live session in July, including four guest speakers – leading talent acquisition professionals from Selfridges, ERM, RPS Group and Direct Line Group.

Now influencers are key to telling a brand’s story – how are you telling yours?

Fill in the form to watch our session recording for all the insight around EVP & influencers.

Digital Talent Demands: A Guide for Talent Leaders

Posted on by akessler

The demand for skilled tech and digital talent is growing at an unprecedented rate in response to the emergence of new technologies, making the competition for talent as tight as ever, with both tech and non-tech companies vying for the same qualified candidates. For the tech sector, it’s a time of transformation. For non-tech organizations, it’s a golden opportunity to fill their technical skills gaps. But for any employer looking to attract top digital talent, it is essential to first understand what candidates are looking for in a new employer.  

In this article, we explore the opportunity for non-tech organizations and offer insights into what tech and digital professionals are looking for in a new employer.  

Plenty of Demand Despite Tech Sector Shifts 

The tumultuous labor market and recent economic landscape have been a rollercoaster for all HR leaders, but those in the tech sector have experienced particularly high highs and low lows. Recent layoffs at tech companies are being categorized as a “course correction” by many publications, and it seems the “growth-at-all-costs” attitude has finally caught up with tech organizations. Over 160,000 professionals were laid off in 2022 according to Layoffs.fyi, with additional cuts taking place in 2023.  

Yet, despite this, demand for tech talent remains high. Over 375,000 tech jobs remain unfilled in the U.S. according to the Dice Tech Job Report. In Australia, tech jobs grew more than twice as fast as the average employment rate in the last decade. In the UK, 41% of companies expect to hire for technical skills in 2023. 

The Tech & Digital Talent Diaspora 

This demand is being primarily driven by traditional companies, rather than software companies or other tech organizations. In fact, the majority of people in tech occupations (59%) don’t work in the tech sector. 

In our digital-first world, every company—from apparel brands to car insurance companies—has tech at the heart of their business as they develop mobile apps and ecommerce consumer experiences. In fact, the biggest and fastest-growing industries for tech professionals are finance, manufacturing and healthcare as these sectors increasingly digitize their operations. 

The ratio of tech and digital workers employed outside of the tech industry will continue to grow. Many workers recently laid off from Big Tech firms have highly sought-after skills, creating an opportunity for more traditional organizations to land tech and digital talent. 

Graph showing which industries tech and digital talent are moving into.

Will Former Tech Workers Re-Evaluate Their Options? 

Given the extent of the downsizing in the tech sector, many workers will think twice about going back to a tech company in the future. Traditional employers, that previously couldn’t compete against the high salaries and quirky perks that Big Tech could provide, now have more to offer tech workers—including stability. 

Tech workers are trading the excitement of startups for the steadiness of more traditional employers. The unpredictable nature and funding rollercoasters of tech firms have left many tech professionals seeking a saner pace. As traditional companies embrace AI, blockchain and cybersecurity, workers who have left the tech sector can still leverage their tech and digital skill sets, but with a greater sense of security.  

What Do Tech and Digital Talent Want? 

When they’re ready for growth again, Big Tech will have to rethink their approach to engaging tech talent and attracting them back to the industry. So, what do tech and digital workers want from their employer and their job? Here are three top considerations that organizations across sectors should focus on to attract and retain tech and digital talent.  

Flexibility & Work/Life Balance 

Many tech workers who experienced the fast pace and intense work culture of startups now find themselves burnt out and are prioritizing more work/life balance. Flexible contracts and remote working are important to tech workers, with 29% citing flexibility as a top priority when looking for a job. Yet, 48% of tech sector employees said that they were feeling pressure from their employer to come into the office more often. 

Recent Gallup analysis shows that employee engagement is lowest among on-site employees, with the biggest dip seen among employees who are capable of working remotely but are required to be on site. Flexibility is not just a perk to offer employees; it should be viewed as a critical way to increase productivity. Organizations can reap the benefits of flexibility in the workplace by continuously monitoring their flexible work program and addressing any challenges experienced by employees or hiring managers.  

What tech and digital talent want

Digital Skills Development  

No one is more aware of the speed of technological advancement than tech and digital workers. And this can lead to anxiety. In fact, 29% of digital employees globally believe their skill set is redundant now or will be in the next one to two years, and 38% believe their skills will be obsolete in the next four to five years. 

In terms of retaining digital talent, investing in training and upskilling programs is crucial for all organizations. Over half of digital talent (55%) say they’re willing to change employers if they feel their skills are stagnating in their current role. Plus, 58% say they would gravitate to organizations that offer better tech and digital skills development. 

With an abundance of job opportunities available, these employees won’t hesitate to find an employer that will invest in their career development. So it’s concerning that only 27% of employees said their organization had plenty of opportunities in place to help them to learn new skills. Learning and development programs are not only an important part of retaining talent with tech and digital skill sets but can also be an effective way to attract talent.  

Start with a skills audit and compare the findings to your business roadmap. By uncovering the areas where your workforce needs the most training, you can then take steps to develop an upskilling program. For example, PeopleScout worked with a longstanding UK financial services RPO client to lead a reskilling program to help the client evaluate their customer service staff in bank branches and call centers to find candidates for their tech skilling program. We were able to identify over 1,000 employees who are now participating in a 12-month “bootcamp” to build digital and tech skills and move into new careers within the organization. 

Meaningful Work  

Organizations must find out how to communicate their employer value proposition (EVP) in a way that resonates with digital talent. Make sure your attraction content emphasizes the give and get for people in tech roles at your organization including learning and growth opportunities, your tech innovations and projects, well-being initiatives and more. Plus, more and more candidates are paying attention to organizational values and mission. If they can’t determine if their personal values are aligned with the company’s mission, they won’t apply.  

EVP is not all about attraction, but also about employee retention. From a retention perspective, it’s crucial that employers continue to showcase how you’re investing in your employees beyond compensation and benefits. This helps to boost feelings of engagement and to build loyalty. 

As the pace of digital transformation accelerates, it is difficult to envisage a company attaining its full potential without a strong foundation of tech and digital talent. Demand for this crucial part of the workforce won’t let up soon. It’s mission critical for organizations to understand what makes this group tick in order to attract, hire and retain tech talent. To get more strategies for attracting and hiring tech and digital professionals, download our Recruitment Handbook for Tech & Digital Talent.

Recruitment Handbook for Tech & Digital Talent

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Breaking DE&I Barriers in Life Science: Tips to Build & Recruit a Diverse Workforce

Posted on by banderson

Over 20 years ago, the U.S. Congress passed the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act, or the Healthcare Fairness Act, to address national issues such as the increasing need for a diverse workforce. With focus on the life sciences, it stated, “There is a national need for minority scientists in the fields of biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and health services research.” Yet, underrepresented populations are still the largest “untapped STEM talent pools in the United States.” 

Black and Hispanic individuals remain underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce. Plus, women remain underrepresented in fields like physical sciences, computing and engineering. Moreover, organizations in Europe are struggling to find and retain women in STEM. According to Eurostat, female scientists and engineers remain a minority in STEM roles, and despite increases over the past decade, women still make up only 16.5% of engineers in the UK. 

For life science organizations, the lack of minorities and women in STEM fields and the sector overall will present long-term challenges in cultivating a workforce that will help them remain competitive in our increasingly diverse and interconnected world. 

However, it seems there hasn’t been much progress made in the 20+ years since the Healthcare Fairness Act. So, how can life science organizations make a difference in creating more diversity in life science careers? Keep reading to learn more about the DE&I challenges and opportunities for life science employers. 

Life Science’s Lack of a Diverse Workforce

Diversity is lacking across the entire life science industry, from research to clinical work. According to the U.S. National Science Foundation, the representation of minority ethnic groups in the science fields must more than double to match the groups’ overall share of the U.S. population. In fact, 65% of the U.S. workforce in life science are white, 19% are Asian, 8% are Hispanic and only 6% are Black. 

Diversity in Life Science
Source: Pew Research Center

Being a future-focused employer requires investment in building diverse and inclusive teams. Bringing underrepresented groups into your organization provides a full range of benefits and skills to drive innovation. The issue is particularly pressing as the industry undergoes a wave of transformation due to the disruption of tech—further widening the current skills gap.  

Additionally, diversity in leadership will help you boost retention and attract talent. With 85% of life science employees who identify as a minority saying they are ‘hugely underrepresented’ in senior roles, the lack of diverse leadership representation could be detrimental to your organization. It could affect your bottom line and further hinder your ability to attain those highly competitive, in-demand skills (like data analytics and computer programming) needed within the industry.  

Diversity in Life Science

Furthermore,  Informa Connect conducted one of the largest industry employee research reports to date, which surveyed life science professionals around the world about their opinions on diversity and inclusion in the industry. When asked what the industry’s biggest problem is pertaining to having an inclusive and diverse workforce, over a third of respondents named the lack of representation of minorities in leadership roles. 

Diverse workforce
Source: Informa Connect

Gender Inequality in Life Science

Due to the lack of women in STEM careers, life science employers struggle to attract women to R&D roles. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 70% of global researchers are men. This creates problems for life science employers as both female life science professionals (65%) and male professionals (59%) believe women are under-represented overall. It doesn’t help that, although women make up almost half (48%) of life science workers, men still out-earn women by 13%.

Diversity in Life Science

Why is Diversity in Life Science so Important? 

Although there are clear disparities around representation of minorities and women in life science, only 23% of organizations are giving significant focus to DE&I and only 13% are financially investing in diverse groups.  Organizations that aren’t prioritizing DE&I will struggle to cope with the industry’s current talent shortage. The lack of diversity puts organizations at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent. 

In our recent research report, candidates say that a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers. This is even more important for candidates from underrepresented groups. In Biospace’s latest report, 93% of women of color responded that they believe diversity is important when considering a job. Investing in DE&I-focused talent acquisition strategies, programs and training creates a huge opportunity for life science organizations to grow a diverse and productive workforce. 

A diverse and inclusive work environment builds trust, increases engagement and improves business outcomes.  

Organizations with strong “diversity climates” have increased employee job satisfaction and employee retention as well as financial returns above national industry medians. Companies with above-average diversity scores report nearly 20% higher revenue due to innovation.  

Moreover, diversity provides many benefits for improved organizational performance and productivity such as:  

  • Broader range of skills and experience  
  • Multilingualism to support global growth 
  • Increased cultural competence and awareness 

Diverse workforces, including cognitively diverse teams, leverage a greater variety of perspectives to solve problems faster with improved accuracy. According to the International Labor Organization, when companies establish inclusive business cultures and policies, they experience a nearly 60% increase in creativity, innovation and openness. 

For example, the majority of the western world’s research uses tissue and blood from white individuals to screen drugs and therapies that are developed for a more diverse population. However, different ethnic groups experience different outcomes from various treatments, methods and diseases. A diverse workforce, especially in biomedical science and pharmaceuticals, would more likely push for inclusion in research and testing and provide different perspectives that could lead to new insights and discoveries. 

Strategies for Attracting, Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Workforce in Life Science 

Creating a diverse and inclusive work environment can be challenging, but here are some proven steps for attracting top diverse talent and establishing equitable recruitment practices. 

1. Focus on Employer Branding  

Show diversity as part of your organization’s DNA by articulating a compelling EVP and employer brand that clearly defines and establishes your organizational commitment to DE&I. Building your internal and external employer brand messaging gives you greater influence over what you are known for, how you are perceived by candidates and the value that you offer to your employees. Make sure your recruitment marketing materials are relevant to a variety of audiences with imagery and content that highlights diversity in race, gender and more. Plus, showcasing real employees adds a layer of authenticity to your employer brand.  

2. Update Your Career Site 

After viewing a job post, a candidate’s first point of contact is usually your career site. It’s crucial that your career site shows your DE&I efforts. Sharing diversity goals publicly and transparently is an important way for candidates to experience your organizational values and mission.  

3. Keep Job Listings Simple  

Plain language is especially important if you want to reach diverse populations. Use verbiage that your candidate would use rather than your internal terminology and assess your job ads for biased language. Avoid verbiage like “expert,” “rockstar” or “like a family” that are often masculine and project a homogeneous work culture that prioritizes like-minded thinking over diversity. Additionally, remove any experience or skills that are “nice-to-have” in your job descriptions, and keep in mind that men and women value different things. For example, while men usually prioritize compensation, most women see work-life balance as their number one priority. 

4. Go Beyond Your Careers Site 

Elevate your sourcing strategy by:  

  • Optimizing your reach by posting on relevant job boards and platforms. Don’t forget that professional networking groups, like the Black Healthcare and Medical Association, are great resources to get your job ads in front of the right people.  
  • Establish relationships with STEM-based programs at universities, alumni associations and other networking groups that cater to diverse populations. 
  • Get your internal teams involved by asking for referrals. Diverse employees are often connected with diverse candidates. 

In doing so, you cast a wider net to reach a larger pool of diverse candidates, maximizing your chances of growing your workforce. 

5. Representation Matters 

During the interview stage, make sure candidates see how much you value diversity by having a diverse panel of interviewers. When a candidate sees someone who looks like themselves or another minority when being interviewed, it creates a sense of belonging and reaffirms your company’s mission to establish a diverse culture. Additionally, make sure your hiring panel has received diversity training and can successfully communicate with those that think differently and have unique backgrounds or working styles. 

6. Invest in Diversity Training 

Through diversity training, you can help change systematic diversity hurdles—such as your organization’s hiring practices and how diverse talent is sourced as well as taking action to increase diversity at the board or leadership level.  

“Companies need to acknowledge the unique needs and contributions of employees with multiple historically excluded identities.”

Yaro Fong-Olivare, Executive director of Bentley University’s Center for Women and Business (CWB)

Diversity training programs are not a one-size-fits-all solution and come in various training types, which can be customized to help achieve your organization’s goals. Diversity training helps employees feel a sense of belonging, so they are more likely to stay with an organization, which can improve your retention rates. 

7. Enable Talent Acquisition Technology and Track Your Efforts 

To build a diverse candidate pipeline, it’s critical that you engage cutting-edge technology and analytics tools to know where your diverse candidates are coming from, how they’re progressing through the recruitment process, and which of your sourcing channels or campaigns brought them to you. Although these insights are often stored in different systems and platforms, a comprehensive reporting tool can help synthesize your data and visualize trends.  

For example, PeopleScout’s Affinix™ brings together applicant tracking systems (ATS), candidate relationship management (CRM) systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital marketing, predictive analytics and digital interviewing to provide award winning innovation to support your organization’s diverse hiring goals. Affinix Analytics’ diversity dashboards show how diverse candidates are entering your pipeline in real time. By tracking how candidates progress through your funnel, you can determine which resources and campaigns bring in top candidates from underrepresented groups. From there, you can analyze the results, identify hiring trends, adjust sourcing spend and strategy to make data-driven decisions. 

Conclusion 

Building an inclusive and diverse workforce doesn’t start and end with just hiring underrepresented groups, it requires an entire organizational shift. In order for the life sciences industry to maintain leadership and competitiveness in science and medical advancement, it’s crucial that organizations invest in building a strong and diverse talent pipeline. Everyone from the C-Suite to hiring managers has an important part to play in achieving DE&I goals and shrinking the industry’s growing workforce gaps.

Proud at Work: LGBTQ+ Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace

Posted on by edyson

The month of June was designated LGBTQ+ Pride Month in remembrance of the Stonewall Uprising that occurred on June 28, 1969, when LGBTQ+ patrons of New York City’s Stonewall Inn clashed with police after the bar was raided. As people around the world commemorate this watershed moment for LGBTQ+ rights, it’s important for employers to have a deep understanding of the history and effect of these events in order to support employees and candidates.

The year after the uprising, marches were organized in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago to commemorate the events of Stonewall and advance LGBTQ+ civil rights. Today, across the globe, numerous memorials, events and pride parades happen all month long to recognize the influence, struggle and triumphs of the LGBTQ+ community.

The events of Stonewall and the activism it inspired in its wake have helped spread the importance of LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion and the dangers of LGBTQ+ discrimination. This is evidenced by the increasing acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community across all age groups, but especially among younger generations — including Millennials and Generation Z — who are taking up larger parts of the workforce each year. In fact, according to a Gallup survey, the number of U.S. adults who identify as LGBTQ has more than double in a decade, from 3.5% in 2012 to 7.1% in 2022 — largely driven by people aged 25 and under.

Consequently, organizations looking to recruit the next generation of top talent need to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ employees and job-seekers in their policies, workplace culture, and talent acquisition strategy. That’s because, not only are LGBTQ+ people more likely to work for inclusive organizations, but so are their allies, 72% of whom said they were more likely to accept a job at an inclusive employer.

So, whether your organization is just beginning its diversity and inclusion journey or you’re looking for additional strategies to improve your diversity program, it’s always a good idea to brush up on the history, needs, and concerns of historically marginalized groups to better understand, engage and recruit in an increasingly diverse talent landscape.

Here, we provide a historical look at LGBTQ+ activism and its victories in the fight for workplace equity.

Dig Deeper

Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcome

Read the research

Heartbreaks & Triumphs: Milestones in the Fight for LGBTQ+ Equality in the Workplace

After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the United States, brave activists participated in a series of demonstrations for employment protections. At the same time, activists worldwide were also fighting for change, creating a global movement for LGBTQ+ rights. This timeline represents the struggles endured – and triumphs won – in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace.

  • 1924: Henry Gerber founded the first gay rights organization, The Society for Human Rights. It aimed “to promote and protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people, including the right to work.”
  • 1969: Patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York City clashed with police, who attempted to raid the establishment. The event is credited with igniting the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
  • 1974: Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), along with Rep. Ed Koch (D-NY), introduced the Equality Act, which would have amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation under the protected classes for employment.
  • 1982: Wisconsin became the first U.S. state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.
  • 1996: The United States Supreme Court decided that Colorado’s second amendment – which denied gay and lesbian people protections against discrimination – was unconstitutional, calling them “special rights.”
  • 2009: President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum allowing same-sex partners of federal employees to receive certain benefits.
  • 2010: The U.S. Senate voted to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, allowing gay and lesbian people to serve openly in the U.S. military.
  • 2015: The U.S. Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
  • June 2020: The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) affirmed that LGBTQ+ workers were protected from discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – a landmark decision.

To engage a new generation of workers and clients – many of whom choose careers, products, and services based on businesses’ diversity and inclusion practices – organizations must reexamine their workplace culture and policies. In the next section, we provide guidance and strategies to make your recruiting and talent management programs as inclusive as possible and how to address LGBTQ+ issues in the workplace, as well as what steps you can take now to make your organization more inclusive for LGBTQ+ employees and candidates.

Strategies to Promote and Support LGBTQ+ Inclusion in the Workplace

While the June 2020 SCOTUS ruling represented major progress for LGBTQ+ civil rights in the U.S., there is still much work to be done to ensure every workplace has inclusive policies and practices in place. Specifically, the Human Rights Campaign’s report, A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide, found the following LGBTQ+ discrimination facts:

  • 1in 5 LGBTQ+ workers reported having been told, or had coworkers imply, that they should dress in a more feminine or masculine manner
  • 53% of LGBTQ+ workers reported hearing jokes about lesbian or gay people at least once in a while
  • 31% of LGBTQ+ workers said they had felt unhappy or depressed at work
  • The top reason LGBTQ+ workers didn’t report negative comments they heard about LGBTQ+ people to a supervisor or human resources was because they didn’t think anything would be done about it – and they didn’t want to hurt their relationships with coworkers.

Therefore, strong policies against LGBTQ+ discrimination in the workplace, benefits and other practices that include LGBTQ+ workers are essential for organizations as they compete for talent – now and in the future. Below are suggestions for how your organization can improve LGBTQ+ inclusion, as well as how to attract and engage candidates from the community.

Create a Formal Policy to Reduce LGBTQ+ Discrimination

If you want to display your commitment to LGBTQ+ workers, setting formal policies outlining your expected behaviors organization-wide is a good place to start. Not only is this important in terms of communicating your organization’s support of LGBTQ+ employees and the community, but it also helps reduce compliance risks and costly discrimination litigation.

Specifically, the policies you put in place should support all employees’ understanding of what type of behavior is inappropriate, while also clearly communicating that harassment and homophobia in the workplace will not be tolerated. In particular, your anti-discrimination and harassment policies should address sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination. You may also want to provide examples of what discrimination and harassment look like to further educate employees. Finally, be sure to check with your legal department before enacting formal policies to ensure you are in compliance.

Support LGBTQ+ Workers by Using Gender-Neutral Language

Likewise, using gender-neutral language when writing and speaking to employees and job candidates can go a long way in making members of the LGBTQ+ community feel visible and included. First, examine the language on your career site, in recruiting messaging, during interviews and in other internal policies to make sure the copy is not exclusionary. Furthermore, while reviewing your career site, consider all the ways that gendered language enforces stereotypes and erases the existence of genderqueer and gender non-binary people within organizations. For example, instead of using “he” or “he/she,” it is acceptable – and, in some cases, preferred – to use “they” as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun. In fact, this is the practice of many major news and media outlets, such as The Washington Post.

Similarly, your organization should also review the language in your employee dress codes. For instance, instead of outlining appropriate workplace attire for men and women, you could simply state that all employees must dress to meet professional standards.

Reevaluate Your Benefits 

Additionally, to ensure your benefits package meets the needs of LGBTQ+ employees, it’s also important to understand their specific needs related to medical coverage, parental leave, bereavement and any other benefits you may offer. To that end, benefits that appeal to the needs of LGBTQ+ candidates are likely to attract more qualified candidates and help your employer brand stand out.

As an example, some organizations have progressive benefits packages that include coverage for drugs related to HIV/AIDs (including PrEP) and coverage for transition-related costs (including gender affirmation surgery.) Again, ensure you’re using inclusive language and perform regular reviews to ensure your benefits package remains relevant to your LGBTQ+ employees.

Provide Training for Managers

Meanwhile, managers should also be invested in the care and wellbeing of those who work for them and are also responsible for ensuring their teams interact professionally and respectfully. Plus, managers are often the first point of contact for questions around health benefits, dress code, use of restrooms, etc. As such, it’s important that they’re able to answer questions confidently and respectfully – or know where to direct an employee if further support is needed.

Granted, some managers will defer any uncomfortable questions to HR for fear of saying the wrong thing. But, a manager who understands the organization’s stance on these issues and is comfortable discussing it also sets the tone for inclusion in their department; training leads to confidence.

Support LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Groups

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are voluntary, employee-led groups made up of individuals who come together based on common interests, backgrounds, or demographic factors, such as gender, race or sexual orientation. ERGs provide safe places for people to meet, support each other and talk about issues related to the LGBTQ+ community in the workplace.

By supporting ERGs, you communicate to your workforce – and potential job candidates – that your organization supports the LGBTQ+ community. In turn, this can help boost retention and also improve your employer brand for job candidates researching your organization.

Support Gender Identity: Gender Neutral Policies for Talent Acquisition & Talent Management

lgbtq in the workplace

Gender transition refers to the process that some trans people undergo to affirm their gender identity. For some people, their transition may include changing their name and how they dress. As outlined by both the Human Rights Campaign and The 519’s Creating Authentic Spaces, gender transition guidelines ensure that there is an institutional protocol on how to support an employee who transitions.

However, there is no singular way for a person to transition; this is a personal process that is defined by the individual and, as such, it’s integral that these guidelines and any formal documents communicate that. Therefore, transition guidelines should delineate the responsibilities and expectations of supervisors, colleagues and other staff, as well as clearly state that any employee who wishes to transition will be supported.

Combating LGBTQ+ Discrimination in the Workplace: How to Support LGBTQ in the Workplace

If your organization is looking to have more of an influence in the LGBTQ+ community, you’re not alone. Many organizations have played an important role in the progress of LGBTQ+ rights by displaying public acts of support and becoming regular sponsors of annual pride events around the world. As a matter of fact, a record 206 major corporations signed an amicus brief in the spring advocating for the Supreme Court’s June 2020 decision protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from workplace discrimination.

At the same time, many organizations are also increasingly making business-critical decisions about recruitment practices, employee resource groups, and employer branding that embrace and welcome the LGBTQ+ community. Next, we’ll outline how your organization can better support LBGTQ+ employees and the communities they represent.

LGBTQ+ Diversity and Your Supplier Network

While many organizations have a formal code of conduct for employees, fewer extend this code to their suppliers. Ensuring suppliers align with your organizational values around LGBTQ+ inclusion goes a long way toward supporting LGBTQ+ workers. For instance, consider where your organization orders office supplies, goes to for catering, hires for cleaning, etc. These are all examples of opportunities to support organizations that are committed to LGBTQ+ inclusion and diversity.

One of the best ways to get your organization in front of many diverse suppliers is through non-profit LGBTQ+ organizations that work to connect diverse suppliers with the corporations looking to do business with them. The following organizations are a good place to begin:  

Updating Recruiting & Hiring Practices for the Future

Building an inclusive organization starts with recruiting and hiring a diverse set of employees. Unfortunately, conscious or unconscious bias against LGBTQ+ applicants can prevent them from getting hired, and prior studies found evidence of bias against LGBTQ+ job applicants. 

Many LGBTQ+ workplace issues begin before a person is hired. The selection process can also be full of challenges for an LGBTQ+ person. For example, studies using résumés indicating that they belong to gay men, queer women and transgender applicants received fewer callbacks compared with résumés without any indication that the applicant was gay, queer or transgender, respectively. A similar study compared matched pairs of women – in which one woman in the pair was transgender – finding a net rate of discrimination of 42% against transgender applicants, illustrating LGBTQ+ employment discrimination is still a persistent issue.

Clearly, qualified applicants should not have to hide their identity to get a job. Yet, one in 10 LGBTQ+ people reported removing items from their résumé to hide their sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) from employers. Alternatively, strategies like blind résumé screening – removing names, gender signifiers and affinity-group affiliations – can help reduce unconscious bias in hiring decisions.

In the meantime, start training recruiters and hiring managers on the many forms of unconscious bias that play out in the hiring process to ensure they’re selecting the best person for the job – regardless of perceived differences. For instance, consider whether your recruiters know how to interact with references who might not be aware of a previous employee’s gender transition (for example, a candidate’s previous employer may have known them by a different name and as a different gender).

Along the same lines, also consider where your job postings are advertised and how they’re written: Do they use gendered language? Are they reaching a diverse range of communities and people? Also, consider posting to job boards and relevant publications that are geared toward LGBTQ+ communities.

Intersectionality & Inclusion  

Many LGBTQ+ employees and job candidates are subject to discrimination based on their sexual orientation and other aspects of their identity. Furthermore, traits such as race, gender, religion and immigration status can also intersect, which may lead to the individual experiencing discrimination on multiple fronts. 

Today, most diversity and inclusion efforts include equity as a dimension, which gives everyone equal opportunities to develop and considers their background and the unique challenges they face. But, because the LGBTQ+ workforce is not a monolithic group with a single set of experiences and needs, avoid categorizing LGBTQ+ employees as a siloed group when crafting your diversity and inclusion strategies. Instead, if you want to build a truly effective diversity and inclusion strategy, start with a foundation grounded in intersectionality, which provides a lens to create and refine innovative and meaningful solutions that truly include everyone.

Moreover, to combat LGBTQ+ discrimination in the workplace, analyze data on pay and employee engagement – separating out variables of race, gender, sexual orientation or physical ability – to get a better picture of intersectional challenges within your organization. While this approach may seem complex, it’s necessary to improve inclusion. Also, note that intersectionality doesn’t require creating countless subgroups for each possible intersection. Instead, diversity and inclusion leaders, as well as ERGs, should educate employees on intersectionality to help everyone understand all of the possible contextual life factors of their LGBTQ+ colleagues and the experiences that these unique identities create.

LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace is fundamentally the right thing to do, and making the business case can sway those on the fence about the importance of LGBTQ+ inclusion. But, ultimately, as talent professionals, providing a space for all employees to thrive and bring their authentic self to work is what’s most important in the fight against LGBTQ+ discrimination in the workplace. As the march for equality continues, it’s beneficial to use multiple strategies to achieve a world in which LGBTQ+ people are celebrated for their diversity and unique experiences.

Only 5% of organizations say they’re succeeding with their DE&I initiatives. Download our free research report, Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes, for insights into how to improve diversity recruitment outcomes.

The Multigenerational Workforce: Gen Z in the Workplace

Posted on by akessler

To continue our series, The Multigenerational Workforce, this article explores the challenges and opportunities of Gen Z in the workplace. For the first time in modern history, four generations are working side-by-side: Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. The ratios will change over the coming years—and so will each group’s level of influence.  

Gen Z is overtaking Baby Boomers as the largest generation history, boasting an incredible two billion people globally, and is set to become the largest demographic in the workplace by the end of the decade. Leaders must not underestimate the impact this generation’s ideas and perspective will have on the world and the workplace. By understanding their needs and preferences, you can attract, engage and hire the best Gen Z talent to propel your workforce into the future. 

Who is Gen Z? 

While sources vary, Gen Z is generally defined as the generation born approximately between 1995 and 2010. They are the first generation to grow up with the internet and social media and have come of age in a time marked by 9/11, polarized politics, economic fluctuations and climate woes. They watched their parents lose jobs during the Great Recession. Then, they experienced the biggest educational and workplace disruption in modern history as COVID-19 lockdowns led to their classes moving online, a surge in unemployment and psychological distress.  

As voracious consumers and creators of digital media, they focus on curating their online presence and have developed an “unapologetically me” ideology. As a result, they are generally socially progressive and value diversity.  

Perhaps ironically, growing up in this hyperconnected online world has also fueled feelings of isolation and loneliness among many Gen Z-ers. Seeing friends posting content and having fun (cue the #FOMO), alongside the pressure to keep on top of social trends, can make the feelings of disconnection even more acute, leading to increases in depression and anxiety.

Gen Z in the workplace

What Matters to Gen Z in the Workplace? 

Gen Z-ers have different expectations and priorities than previous generations of workers. They’ve expressed less loyalty than past cohorts and are more pragmatic. They don’t assume they’ll have a social safety net upon retirement since seeing layoffs and pensions shrinking.  

Here are some more characteristics to look out for when hiring Gen Z candidates. 

Fighting for Social Change  

After witnessing the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements as well as the increased frequency of natural disasters due to climate change, Gen Z is seeking employment that matches their personal values. They believe in their ability to make a difference individually and are also demanding that employers do their part to help build a better future.  

LinkedIn released a global study of nearly 10,000 professionals which found that 68% of workers in the UK, France, Germany and Ireland consider it important to work for companies that are aligned with their values. In the U.S., it’s higher at 87%. Gen Z is driving this shift, with nearly 90% in Europe saying they would leave a job to work somewhere that better matches their values.  

Digitally Native but Digitally Unsure 

Growing up with access to the internet and mobile devices has led to a widespread presumption that Gen Z-ers are innately good with tech. However, new research shows this may not be the case at work.  

One in five of the 18-to-29-year-olds polled in HP’s Hybrid Work: Are We There Yet? report said they felt judged when experiencing technical issues in the workplace. Furthermore, this “tech shame” leads 25% of young professionals to actively avoid participating in a meeting if they think it will expose their tech shortcomings.  

Generation Disenchanted? 

Much has been said about the number of older workers taking early retirement, but the biggest rise in inactivity since the pandemic has not been among Baby Boomers, but workers aged between 18 and 24. In the UK, the share of workers in this age group classed as economically inactive—meaning they’re not actively working or looking for a job—stood at a record high of 32% in the second quarter of 2022. Plus, of those who are students or currently unemployed, 1 in 10 said they never intend to start working.  

In a rejection of the “girlboss” and “hustle culture”, the hashtag #IDontDreamOfLabor has taken off as a platform for Gen Z to speak candidly about their rejection of work as the basis for identity, framing it instead as a financial necessity for paying the bills. In the shadow of the Great Resignation, Gen Z is vocal about the role of work in their lives—sometimes to viral acclaim. Some have taken to TikTok to coach their peers on how to negotiate salaries, which red flags to look out for in the interview process and how to stick up for what they want at work.  

The formative experience of the Great Recession combined with entering the workforce during the pandemic has taught young people that hard work doesn’t necessarily guarantee stability. They want better than what their parents had and aren’t shy about demanding more from their employers. Organizations who can navigate these expectations will win the hearts of Generation Z. 

Gen Z at work

Strategies for Engaging Gen Z at Work

To help Gen Z workers become as productive and successful as possible, employers need to showcase their values and offer a combination of ongoing wellbeing support and robust skills training.  

1. Evaluate Your Employer Brand for Gen Z 

As most young people seeking employment with a company they can believe in, it’s important to build an employer brand that resonates with Gen Z values. In the recent global study, Inside the Candidate Experience, PeopleScout found that the top things Gen Z job seekers look for when evaluating a job are: 

  1. Mission and purpose 
  1. Flexible working and work/life balance 
  1. DE&I; Company culture (tied) 

With mission and purpose as the top factor for Gen Z job seekers, it’s surprising how few organizations include this information on their career websites. On the sites we examined, we found an organization’s mission and purpose less than half (48%) of the time. This means that half of companies are passing up an opportunity to engage emotionally with their young talent audiences and assist prospects in understanding how the job they have applied for fits into that goal. Candidates won’t look at your open roles if they can’t identify your mission on your careers site. 

2. Embrace Social Media  

Despite concern over how much Gen Z-ers use and consume social media, it is their main way of staying connected, so it is imperative for employers to have a strong presence on social. Two-thirds of candidates use social media to research companies during their job search. Yet, a third of employers are not posting career related content (above and beyond job listings) to their social channels at least once a week.  

Favorite social platforms for Gen Z include TikTok, Instagram and YouTube—so consider creating video content to engage talent from this generation. “Day in the life” videos are a great way to provide a realistic job preview and show early careers talent what it’s like to work at your organization. 

3. Showcase Your DE&I Efforts 

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a top consideration for Gen Z candidates when looking for a job, and they’ll be scrutinizing any employer to separate lip service from authentic DE&I action. When candidates from underrepresented groups are searching for jobs, the right job title might be enough to get them to click on a posting—but whether they actually apply is influenced by what they read and hear about how an organization treats its people.  

Representation matters, and employers who showcase employees across a range of demographics show candidates that people from diverse backgrounds can flourish at their organization. Ensure your recruitment communications include voices and stories from underrepresented groups at all levels of the organization.  

Employers should also strive for transparency with their diversity recruitment data and share any plans they have in place to shift the dial around representation. Then, when candidates from underrepresented groups encounter similar voices throughout the recruitment process, they’ll realize that not only are they welcome at the organization, but they’ll also have the opportunity to thrive and progress.  

4. Offer Employee Mental Wellness Benefits 

Growing up entirely in the digital age has undeniably had an impact on how this generation interacts with others. With fewer in-person exchanges, some 37% of Gen Z feels worried that technology weakens their ability to maintain strong interpersonal relationships and develop people skills. Living in a world of non-stop communication through apps and social media also contributes to mental health conditions like anxiety. The strain of modern living on mental health has been further exacerbated by the pandemic and lockdown life. 

Gen Z-ers are proud advocates for mental health, sharing their experiences and removing the stigma around depression and anxiety. According to Cigna International Health’s 2023 survey of almost 12,000 workers around the world, 91% of 18-to-24-year-olds report being stressed. And they’re looking for support from their employer. A whopping 92% of university students say employers should offer mental well-being benefits, and more than a third (36%) are prioritizing those who do as they start their careers. 

Employee assistance programs, employee resource groups and workplace mental health training are all ways employers are creating a culture that promotes mental health and wellbeing. Gen Z will be drawn to employers who are joining the conversation around mental health and creating a safe space to raise and address these issues. 

5. Highlight Growth Opportunities for Gen Z

Worryingly, 37% of young people say their education did not adequately prepare them with the technology skills they need for their career. This digital native generation is lacking in the digital literacy most organizations need to fuel future innovation.  

Gen Z is prioritizing employers who demonstrate investment in developing their employees’ skills and career paths. Employers who highlight training, mentoring and professional development programs in their recruitment materials will satisfy Gen Z’s ambition and desire to grow.  

Training for new Gen Z joiners should center around soft skills like resilience, relationship building and empathy, enabling people from this cohort to manage their own stress levels effectively and to understand when and how they should ask for help. Face-to-face support and mentoring programs are a core elements of training for Gen Z in the workplace. Mentoring and reverse mentoring are being widely embraced by organizations across industries, enabling more senior employees to share their experience with the younger generation to counteract skills gaps, while also tapping into the knowledge and insights of Gen Z in the areas of social trends and digital media.  

Gen Z in the Workplace: Embracing Positive Change 

As organizations plan for the future of work, they must work harder to appeal to the savvy Generation Z-ers entering the workforce. While most employers understand the importance of inclusivity and ethical decision-making, this generation will hold them accountable to putting those principles into action. Employers must embrace these values and the positive changes brought by Gen Z in the workplace. Talent acquisition leaders should keep their finger on the pulse of how these young workers will shape how we hire and develop talent in the coming decades. 

Check out our report to learn more about the future of work:

Future of Work

DESTINATION 2030: 10 PREDICTIONS FOR WHAT’S NEXT IN THE WORLD OF WORK

Read the Full Report

Keeping the Human in Human Resources: 3 Employee Retention Strategies for 2023

Posted on by banderson

After the last three years, there’s no doubt that we could all use a deep breath. But, with economic uncertainty filling the air, we haven’t quite reached a steady state. Instead, now’s the time to reflect on all that’s been learned throughout the last few years and recalibrate your strategies to better succeed in today’s reality. In fact, this work has already begun, with new research suggesting that talent acquisition is no longer a leading priority among employers. Instead, a focus on employee retention strategies takes the lead.

According to Lattice’s 2023 State of People Strategy Report, 40% of HR professionals surveyed said that talent acquisition was a top priority in 2021. By 2022, that number had dropped to 17%, with the surveyed professionals indicating that retention would be a leading priority over talent acquisition heading into 2023. Notably, this data tracks globally, as a recent Global Talent Trends report from LinkedIn highlighted decreasing hiring rates from 2021 to 2022 across a sample of 14 countries.  

During the current economic downturn, it’s clear that employers are looking inward at how they can retain their best people. So, how can your organization foster an environment where people don’t want to leave? Consider these three tips for increasing employee retention in 2023:  

1. Establish a Strong Sense of Purpose & Belonging 

According to a study from McKinsey and Company, the relational factors that are most important to employees—such as feeling valued and a sense of belonging—are often overlooked by employers who falsely assume transactional factors (such as compensation) are most important to employees.   

Consider these tips for establishing a sense of belonging with your employees:  

  • Train managers on how to have meaningful conversations with employees.  
  • Encourage managers to be invested in employees’ personal and professional aspirations.  
  • Make vulnerability a normal practice among leaders, managers, and contributors.  
  • Establish a strong DE&I program, complete with employee resource groups. 

Along the same lines, there’s no better way to foster a connection to your organization than by recognizing employees who live your purpose in practice. Whether it’s via a team email, internal newsletter or social media post; identify employees who embody your organization’s purpose. They’ll feel valued, and others will be encouraged to find ways to integrate that purpose into their daily lives, as well.  

2. Maintain Flexible Work Options

The data is clear: Losing flexible work is not an option—not if you want to have any chance of retaining your people. According to a 2022 study from ADP, 64% of the global workforce would consider looking for a new job if they were required to return to the office full-time. What’s more, the survey also found that more than half (52%) of employees were even willing to accept a pay cut if it meant maintaining flexible, hybrid work arrangements.  

As such, it’s important to remember that flexible work doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Consider these options:  

  • Require two to three in-person workdays for all employees.  
  • Allow employees to choose which days they work from home.  
  • Offer atypical work hours — such as 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — to accommodate employees with other responsibilities and interests.   
  • If possible, allow full-time remote work.  

After determining which flexible work options make the most sense for your organization, remember to purposefully build opportunities for engagement among your remote or hybrid team. And, if your organization’s policies don’t allow much room for flexibility, be mindful of tying those policies back to the business. For example, rather than citing “productivity” as a vague reason for not allowing employees to work remotely, explain why collaborating in person will allow the business to better serve customers.  

3. Prioritize Development & Internal Mobility

Employees are hungry for growth and development. According to the latest Engagement and Retention Report from Achievers, career progression was the #1 pull factor attracting employees to new jobs. Similarly, new data from Microsoft showed that 76% of employees would stay at their company longer if they could benefit more from learning and development support. So, what can employers do about it? To start, don’t give employees a reason to look elsewhere for opportunities to grow their careers.   

By prioritizing learning and development (L&D) from day one, employees will feel like their career progression is being taken seriously. More precisely, consider mentorship programs, shadowing and skills training to invest in employees’ growth. Likewise, another critical component of retaining employees is internal mobility, which works in tandem with L&D.   

Research from LinkedIn shows that employees who make an internal move are more likely to stay at their organization longer than those who stay in the same role. For example, at the one-year mark, employees are 75% likely to stay without an internal move, while those who make a lateral move or receive a promotion are 87% likely to stay. This trend continues for each year an employee stays at the company. 

Treat People Like People 

At the end of the day, people want to be treated as just that—people. They crave connection, interaction and belonging—all things that were compromised by the seemingly overnight shift to more virtual work. Employers who understand the importance of relational factors over transactional ones will be the ones to retain their employees. And, those who are intentional about establishing a strong sense of purpose; fostering engagement; and creating opportunities for flexibility, recognition and development will emerge stronger with the most valuable resource —their people—intact.  

Workforce Planning: Applying What We’ve Learned to Drive Future Success

Posted on by nfuqua

In the past three years, we’ve seen a talent market that has shifted more drastically and rapidly than we’ve ever seen. These weren’t the standard economic oscillations that take place slowly throughout many years—rather, this pace of change was something new and required talent leaders to spend the last three years fighting fires instead of focusing on workforce planning. 

Now, it’s as important as ever to be more intentional about our strategy as we ask, “What’s next?”  

Taking Time to Reflect 

As talent leaders, we’re no strangers to the Great Rehire, quiet quitting and the Great Resignation—it seems at every turn, we are learning about a new workforce movement. At PeopleScout, we feel the real value comes not from labeling the next talent trend, but in doing the work to help employers struggling with today’s very real talent obstacles and developing custom solutions to address our clients’ unique talent challenges.  

Right now, there is an opportunity to take a look back at everything we’ve learned from our experiences over the past three years and apply those lessons to our talent programs to drive continued success. It’s time to change strategies, rewatch the tapes and recalibrate our approach to meet whatever challenges the future holds.  

So, where do we go from here? We step back, take a breath and reflect, then take action by challenging the status quo.  

In this article, we’re going to outline many of the different lessons learned, as well as opportunities for you to revitalize your own workforce planning.  

The Economic Reality 

While the global economic landscape continues to fluctuate, the pace of change has decelerated. In the U.S., most economic indicators give a mixed picture: some companies have made headlines with layoffs, but job growth in other industries has remained strong. What’s more, monthly jobs reports still show strong hiring numbers and economists have seen positive signs around inflation.  

At the same time, we’re starting to see a bit of “gas pedal, brake pedal” as talent leaders try to read the tea leaves of the economic picture amid these mixed signals. While employers across some industries are still hiring, the pace has slowed from the height of the Great Rehire. 

Globally, we’re seeing the setup for similar environments. In the UK, job vacancies have fallen from their 2022 high, but still remain far above average with a shrinking labor force; however, issues like high inflation, rising wages and worker strikes persist. And, in Australia, the unemployment rate remains at a very low 3.5% and our clients are seeing a tighter applicant pool. 

These are certainly challenges to contend with, and the best way to move forward is with a quick glance back. 

Opportunities for Adjustment with Workforce Planning

With large variances across countries, regions and sectors, the lessons learned and resulting transformations will depend on how the past three years have affected you.  

Here are the five main areas we recommend you prioritize as part of your workforce planning strategy enhancement.  

1. Recruitment Process Improvement 

The first place to start your recalibration is the recruitment process. Did the pandemic and Great Rehire introduce changes into your process? For example, many employers were forced to shoehorn their in-person hiring process into a virtual one through the pandemic and Great Rehire. If that was the case at your organization, does that process still work, especially for your remote and hybrid employees?  

This is one of the biggest opportunities for talent leaders to connect with their teams to understand what worked and what didn’t. Your team members have built up so much knowledge on the ground working through the challenges of the last three years. How can you harness that going forward?  

Similarly, take a step back and look at the data you’re using to define success with your recruitment program. Are you hitting your goals, but still feel like something is missing? If so, you may be looking at vanity metrics, as opposed to sanity metrics. There’s always room for improvement; you just need the right data points to identify it. 

In this case, consider bringing in a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner. A partner can help with any future scaling up and down as your hiring needs change, but they also provide value in helping benchmark your progress and success. For instance, the most frequent questions we get from clients during our routine business reviews with them are around what other employers are doing. What technologies are out there? What innovations have been made? What suggestions do you have? Without an RPO partner, you miss out on that insight.  

2. Employer Brand 

There has probably been more discussion about employer brand during the last year and a half than ever before, and this has been driven largely by the change in workforce and candidate priorities. During the Great Resignation, employees left for perceived greener pastures. To that end, it’s important to understand what you did right and where you may have let employees down during the last few years. In particular, there’s an opportunity to talk to the people who stayed with you to understand what kept them at your organization through some difficult years. Then, you can apply those lessons to your employer value proposition. In fact, if you haven’t updated your employer value proposition and employer brand since before 2020, you’re behind the curve.  

Outside of the pandemic and recovery, the growing influence of Gen Z in the workplace has also influenced employer brands. Our research shows that Gen Z—more than any other generation in the workforce—says that your mission and values, company culture, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives influence their decision to apply. With that in mind, does your employer brand reflect the changing values of the workforce?  

 3. Candidate Experience 

The world has fundamentally changed in the last few years, and so have candidate expectations. Specifically, we’ve seen a shift toward the need for a consumer-like candidate experience in recent years, and it has only accelerated. As consumers, we’ve grown to expect even more convenience. In 2020, many of us expanded our use of services, like grocery pick-up and delivery. We order our coffee with an app so we don’t have to wait as it’s made. Even as the pandemic receded, many of us kept up with these conveniences. Candidates expect a similar experience when it comes to finding and applying for jobs.  

In the same vein, when was the last time you evaluated your candidate experience? Have you taken on the task of simply applying for a job at your organization to see the experience through the candidate’s eyes? Did you make compromises in the depths of the pandemic or the chaos of the Great Rehire? Or did you implement tools—like on-demand video interviews or automated text message screenings—and discover that they reduced candidate fall-out? In any case, it’s probably time to recalibrate your candidate experience.  

PeopleScout recently released research around candidate expectations and candidate experience best practices. Read our three most important takeaways. 

4. Retention 

The Great Resignation forced employers to renew their focus on employee retention, and it has definitely had an influence. According to HR Digest, employers that invested in employee development saw a 58% increase in retention in 2022. Beyond employee development, many organizations have also made their moves to remote, hybrid and flexible work permanent.  

In 2023, we expect the pace of turnover to slow down for many employers. That’s because the changing economic landscape has left candidates less confident in their job searches, according to CNBC. As such, we anticipate more workers will place greater value on stability after several turbulent years.  

As you look at your own program improvements, the employees you retain will be valuable assets as they’ve learned the key lessons firsthand. They’ve stayed with your organization and adapted through the changes of the past several years. They know your company better than anyone. What can you do to provide benefits like work/life balance, professional development and wellness? 

5. Optimizing Technology 

Finally, take a look at your technology. Many employers quickly added new recruitment technology solutions in 2020 to support remote recruitment during lockdown. If that was the case at your organization, are those tools optimized for your current needs? 

When it comes to improving your recruitment program, your technology is one of your most important tools: Your recruitment tech stack likely affects every one of the other opportunities for enhancement that we’ve highlighted. With machine learning and artificial intelligence, we can learn from the history of candidate behavior. The right tools can then help recruiters prioritize interactions with candidates and automate communications to candidates in your recruitment funnel. Similarly, the right technology can also make your recruitment process more efficient; help you more effectively share your employer brand; improve your candidate experience; and provide benefits for current employees. If you’re reevaluating your talent acquisition strategy, technology needs to be a part of the conversation.  

Lessons Learned 

During the last three years, many of us have spent so much time dealing with the present that there hasn’t been an opportunity to think about the future. That said, we have learned the value of scheduling time to focus on what’s next; over and over again, we’ve seen the importance of being nimble. With that in mind, we’re encouraging our clients to think about the elements discussed above and identifying ways that PeopleScout can help them meet their talent needs. So, I urge you to take the time to think about how you can adjust your talent program for whatever the future brings.