Talent Insider

Monday, June 1, 2020

In This Issue

Longboarding in the Age of Covid

Set Your Team Up for Virtual Interview Success

4 Tips to Complete Your Hiring Process Virtually

Podcast Series for Employers

Military Hiring Conferences

According to our Clients

Refer a Military Job Seeker or Client Company to Orion

Connect with Orion

Longboarding in the Age of Covid

What is longboarding, and what role does it play in the post-Covid landscape of talent acquisition? At a time when many businesses are dealing with short-term goals, Leeatt Rothschild writes in HR Morning, that this long-term goal is more important than ever. Simply put, longboarding means going beyond onboarding to keep top talent motivated for the long term.

Citing the statistic that replacing a top employee can cost as much as twice their yearly salary, Rothschild writes, “HR leaders need to continue to affirm employees long after the onboarding period to keep them excited about their work.” Longboarding is a long-term strategy that addresses the needs of your top employees and is particularly important in the new normal of an all-remote staff.

In her article, Rothschild provides three tips for longboarding that may mean the difference between losing your star employee or not.

First, she explains that you should communicate often. As we have said on this blog before, open communication is key in the hiring process, especially when done virtually; but this is especially true in longboarding where Rothschild suggests having regular check-ins. “Longboarding is all about regular, constructive communication…. Top performers want to know that their opinion matters….ask for your employees’ honest feedback about how things are going,” writes Rothschild, “Make sure they know their concerns have an outlet, and that they can have an active role in shaping their experience and workflow.”

Second, she writes that you should be offering development opportunities. Even without a huge budget, companies have options for developing their employees. Whether it be something as simple as peer coaching and digital courses, or technical workshops and leadership mentoring, employee development nurtures dedicated, informed leaders.

Third, Rothschild encourages frequent recognition. “When employees know the work they’re doing is valued, they’re more inclined to stay and grow within your company,” she writes. Rothschild goes on to say that during onboarding, you prepare the employee “to do good work.” In longboarding, you need to praise that job well done. Rothschild also lists a few key events that should lead to recognition, including milestones, anniversaries, and hardships (especially important right now). And this recognition can be simple, like a handwritten note or time off.

In the end, Rothschild is a proponent of more longboarding, less onboarding. While complementing one another, she concludes that through longboarding “you improve retention, you can save the energy and resources you’d need to onboard the next new hire and invest it in the incredible talent you already have.”

You can read Rothschild’s full article here for in-depth tips on how to successfully longboard your employees, even remotely. Orion is here for you, as well. If you need some help in developing these strategies, give us a call and let us get you on the right track.

Set Your Team Up for Virtual Interview Success

In his most recent article in Recruiting Daily, Orion Talent CEO Mike Starich is joined by Orion Talent Recruiting Manager/VP, Operations, Jay Koranda. “How to Ace Candidate Interviews in a Socially Distant World” explores the advantages of virtual interviews and how they can lead to successful job offers.

“As your team adapts to more virtual operations, you will quickly see that most of the practices you use for in-person interviews also work for conducting video interviews,” write Mike and Jay. Here are four tips they give to make sure your virtual process works for you.

Keep candidates at ease: Mike and Jay provide some suggestions you can provide to candidates to prepare them for your virtual interview.

Get the technology together and do multiple test runs: As you ramp up virtual hiring, test and retest your virtual platform.

Create a virtual tour of your company: Get creative, and consider other ways to illustrate your day-to-day workplace environment.

Make communication and engagement a priority: Be clear and concise throughout your hiring process, so the candidate never feels lost in the virtual shuffle.

As with the world as a whole, COVID-19 has hit talent management in a big way. But that doesn't mean you can’t adapt and overcome. Read Mike and Jay’s full article here for more of their insight into these tips.

You can also refer to our recent blog post for even more tips.

4 Tips to Complete Your Hiring Process Virtually

By now, you have likely accepted that virtual interviews are the new normal. But, just like the world pre-COVID, the virtual interview is only the first step. Once you have interviewed that candidate, you need to close the deal (often virtually). It is imperative to have the right virtual framework to complete the hiring cycle and score that star candidate.

Here are a few tips to help you navigate this new direction:

Communicate Openly and Clearly

Develop your full virtual hiring process and gain buy-in from all key players. Then you can clearly inform candidates about the stage of the process they are in and what to expect next. Share the names of interviewers, expectations, and timelines. If there was ever a time to over-communicate, it is now.

Emphasize Employer Brand Throughout the Process

Make sure to have an established Employer Brand that all interviewers throughout the hiring process can convey consistently. Since the candidate cannot be there to see your workplace culture, practice a compelling company pitch, through various collateral, videos, and social media, that reinforce your mission and values.

Be Empathetic

This is a stressful time for all of us, and, as we all rely completely on video technology, we are often learning as we go. It is important to be compassionate during the virtual hiring process. When the dog barks outside or a rogue toddler enters the frame, remember, we are all in this together.

Get Creative

And one last practical tip is to re-think parts of the process that are always in person, like site visits and plant tours. You can do a live walkthrough, allowing the candidate to meet potential co-workers via video. You can pre-record what you would show the candidate in-person, and bring future colleagues in on the virtual meeting after the virtual facility tour. We have seen our clients approach these critical touchpoints in a variety of creative ways.

These tips work! Check out three success stories from our clients that have hired virtually within the last month.

Completing the hiring process virtually may feel like you have lost a lot of the personal touch, but it doesn’t have to. Implement these tips, and you will be on your way to building an effective virtual hiring strategy that remains personal, and results in an accepted offer.

Learn more about Orion Talent Virtual Interviews here.

Podcast Series for Employers

Call To Order, a weekly podcast from Orion Talent, features an Army veteran discussing a variety of recruiting trends and the value veterans bring to the civilian business world.

Join Dave Lehmkuhl as he calls this meeting to order and reveals how military recruiting can transform your business.

Stay up to date with our latest episodes:

Hiring Veterans into Sales Roles

Leadership Development Programs - Best Practices for Building a Successful Program

Rich Cardona - Journey from JMO to Entrepreneur

A Candidate's Military Rank vs Your Open Position

JMO Hiring Ideas and Practices

Visit us online to listen to all the episodes, and read more about Dave. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast platform or RSS feed, to automatically receive new episodes as they are released.

Military Hiring Conferences

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

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

At this time, we are offering both virtual and in-person Hiring Conference events. If you are interested in a virtual event, we are happy to coordinate a Hiring Conference event based on your time frame.