Jen Chelini | October 23, 2023

By Jen Chelini

At Leap Solutions we believe in a partnership between our clients and us for recruiting the best-fit hires. When hiring an employee, we all want to get it right the first time around. In our newsletter this month, we share our “why” for your next great hire.

In this issue of our newsletter:

Applications
Reference Checks
Background Checks

I believe we can all agree that when hiring an employee, we want to get it right the first time around. It is more effective to take the time ahead of hire to do a little more work to know/understand who someone is, rather than jump quickly to hire them only to find out they are not a cultural fit, leaving us to have to deal with a bad hire.

Why exactly do we want prospects to fill out applications? Why do we want to conduct reference checks? Why conduct background checks?

Here are some key points that highlight why the Candidate Discovery process is crucial to the hiring process:

Applications

1. Screening Candidates: Applications offer more detailed and structured information than resumes, enabling recruiters to assess whether candidates meet job qualifications.
2. Legal Documents: Applications serve as legal agreements that authorize various checks and acknowledgments related to employment terms and attesting to the truth and accuracy of information by the applicant.
3. Mitigating Discrimination: Standardized applications help prevent bias by presenting consistent information across candidates, reducing the potential for discriminatory judgments.
4. Information Organization: Applications consolidate essential details for efficient candidate evaluation, saving time and effort during the hiring process.
5. Compliance: For government contractors, applications aid in collecting required information like race, gender, ethnicity, disability, and military service for Affirmative Action Plans.

Reference Checks

1. Second Opinion: Reference checks offer insights from individuals who have worked closely with the candidate, providing additional perspectives beyond the candidate’s self-presentation.
2. Job Fit Assessment: References can provide information about a candidate’s compatibility with the team, boss, and company culture.
3. Verification of Information: References can confirm and clarify details on a candidate’s resume, ensuring accuracy and authenticity.
4. Identifying Red Flags: Inconsistencies or negative indicators from references can alert recruiters to potential issues or exaggerations in the candidate’s background.
5. Gauging Performance: References can provide examples of the candidate’s past accomplishments, teamwork abilities, leadership skills, and overall performance.
6. Cultural Fit: Reference checks can reveal how well the candidate collaborated with others, adapted to changes, and contributed to team dynamics.

Background Checks

1. Ensuring Accuracy and Completeness: Applicants may not always provide accurate or complete information on their applications. Background checks verify the details provided, such as employment and education history.
2. Hiring the Right People: Background checks help employers hire the most qualified candidates, leading to improved productivity and a stronger workforce.
3. Holistic View: Background screenings provide a more comprehensive understanding of candidates by verifying their claims, and ensuring accurate and complete information.
4. Enhancing Safety: Background checks help identify potential issues like criminal history, reducing risks related to theft, harassment, and safety concerns.
5. Reputation Management: By uncovering relevant information, background checks help protect a company’s reputation and brand image.
6. Risk Management: Negligent hiring or retention lawsuits can be prevented by conducting background checks to validate candidates’ suitability for risk-sensitive positions.

At Leap Solutions Group we believe in a partnership between our clients and us for accurate and best-fit hires and we highly recommend candidates complete applications, as we conduct reference and background checks. Breaking down the rationale behind these recruitment steps demonstrates the multifaceted benefits they bring to organizations. An in-depth understanding of these benefits can help HR professionals make informed decisions during the candidate discovery process, leading to better hires and more effective recruitment strategies, while also reducing the risk of potential liabilities and/or legal issues.

Are You Ready to Leap?

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Leap Solutions is a diverse group of highly skilled management, organizational development, and human resources, and executive search and recruitment professionals who have spent decades doing what we feel passionate about helping you feel passionate about what you do. Our HR specialists can help you get a handle on the ever-changing COVID-19 guidelines, programs, and legislation that may impact you and your employees. We are available to work with you to develop practical solutions and smart planning decisions for your organization’s immediate, near, and long-term needs.

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Jen Chelini | April 25, 2023

Recruiting: Using a Third-Party Search Consultant

When you consider your options to hire new staff or find a candidate for a hard-to-fill position, it is wise to consider a third-party search consultant. What is a search consultant? At Leap Solutions Group, our search team is made up of experienced, career-long search consultants and recruiter professionals that help your company fill critical staffing needs. As an Executive Search Consultant, our team is an extension of your organization to find the best-fit candidates for your critical management positions. What is the value and benefit of working with a search consultant to find your next leaders and specialty employees? Let us take a look.

An internal hiring manager may be able to devote a portion of their days to search for the ideal candidates; however, with the many positions to fill, there may not be enough time or resources for a comprehensive, complex search for a key management position. To ensure finding the right person, third-party firms spend their time engaging with candidates, building their network of talent, actively sourcing, and researching the industry hiring trends. This building of the talent pipeline is core to what the Leap team does each day. On the other hand, a company hiring manager generally does not have the time to build a pipeline or cast a large net in the industry to find viable candidates. They can passively recruit and hope strong candidates come to them via the company careers page or from a posting on a job board. Their time is focused on the current role they are trying to fill. Building a pipeline can be difficult to do if you do not have a current opening. And most top candidates do not want to talk to hiring managers unless they have a current opening.

At the heart of the third-party search consulting firm is the database we continually build with a pipeline of qualified candidates. We foster relationships to build a strong network for use when the next opportunity strikes. A candidate’s profile will show up in our database search, and they may also come to mind based on previous interactions and the client’s current needs. We market the candidates to our client and test for cultural fit and relevance to the open position. With a solid understanding of both the client and the candidates’ offerings, we are able to make a timely introduction to the client and a potential candidate match.

Rather than posting a position and praying for applicants, successful third-party search consultants, in addition to their talent pipelines, have a cadre of passive candidates to explore for the client’s needs. Successful recruiters reach out to passive candidates, who often make the best candidate as they are currently in a position. These established relationships yield potential candidates and provide referral sources to colleagues and professional connections. The passive network brings active candidates to share with the client and allows third-party search consultants to be ready to find the right candidate for the role and move the candidates into the recruiting process. Statistically, a passive candidate is more likely to be highly qualified and does not need to seek a new position to improve their skill set or competencies. Recruiting passive candidates at Leap Solutions is a way of life. Since they are employed and not actively seeking a change, they seem to be more open about their career goals and typically, we move them to become more engaged in the process.

As your search partner, we inform and help candidates learn about why your company is a great opportunity. Key data points that you provide to us are shared with candidates, and this helps build enthusiasm for the position. As your representative, we consult with you as to why this candidate is the right one for you in this market.

We help you reality-check your requirements, timelines, compensation, and decision process by leveraging our strong understanding of both the recruitment process and the recruitment market. When competing for candidates, we make sense of what is going on in the market and realize how quickly candidates are snapped up as well as how fast other companies are making hire decisions. We dig deeper with candidates to know why they want a new role and when they are ready to make a move.

In both the short-term and long run, utilizing a third-party search consultant saves you time and money. Companies often receive hundreds of applications, and a search consultant is ready to sift through, sort, connect with, contact, and screen the right candidates for you. We conduct background and reference checks to ensure the candidate representations are accurate. We reconcile the candidates that not only look good on paper but are the right fit for you. The bottom line, we efficiently and effectively seek the right candidates to ensure your investment in a search consultant yields the ideal employee.

Are You Ready to Leap?

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Jen Chelini | March 24, 2022

What are the actions in your plan when no one seems to be applying? All successful recruiting strategies have one critical element among them – they all have a plan.

Introduction

All successful recruiting strategies have one critical element among them – they all have a plan. At Leap Solutions, we customize a plan for every recruitment. It would be simple to post an opportunity and then sit back and wait for all the applicants to flow in…. but we all know in this job market that will not lead to success.

What are the actions in your plan when no one seems to be applying, applicants are non-responsive, candidates are reevaluating work/life balance, and others are voicing concerns about returning to an unknown future?

Recruiting Strategies

Here are a few basic steps to structure the components of your plan:

Treat candidates like customers by nurturing them.
Improve the candidate experience through proactive communication from start to finish.
Take time to brand your company. This is an excellent passive recruitment sourcing strategy. Use social media – Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter – to post positions and engage with candidates. Passive recruitment targets potential candidates who aren’t necessarily looking for a new role, but become enticed to apply based on your company website and social media branding.
Implement an employee referral program. Employee referrals can reduce your time to hire, improve your quality of hire and increase your retention rate.
Engage passive candidates. These are candidates who aren’t necessarily looking but can be found without posting traditional ads.
Include past applicants and past employees as potential candidates. Use the talent pipeline you worked hard to build the first time around.
Create compelling job postings.

a. Showcase dynamic summaries that get candidates excited about the role.

b. Ask and answer – “How does the position fit into the organization?”

c. Highlight your values and culture, which can be your most important asset.

d. Design jobs with realistic requirements

e. Touch on succession and/or career development opportunities – topics at the top of a candidate’s list when looking
for a new role.
Source via hiring events including in-person and online events; job fairs, venue rentals, and virtual events. Don’t forget to advertise these events via posting ads, newsletters, and your website.
Source laid-off workers. It’s important to gain an understanding of why these workers are hesitant about the future. Today’s candidates are focused on work/life balance, offering flexible working conditions, mental wellness, and desire transparency when it comes to potential salaries.
Focus on financial and physical wellness, and company culture, offer honesty and transparency throughout the hiring process. Candidates often turn down offers based on the company culture. They might initially take the offer, but continue to search for new opportunities.

Are You Ready to Leap?

***

Leap Solutions is a diverse group of highly skilled management professionals serving our clients with their organizational development, human resources, and executive search and recruitment needs. We have spent decades doing what we feel passionate about helping you feel passionate about what you do. With the ever-changing COVID-19 response, our HR specialists can help you get a handle on the guidelines, programs, and legislation that may impact you and your employees. Through all of our services, we are available to work with you to develop practical solutions and smart planning decisions for your organization’s immediate, near, and long-term needs.

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Jen Chelini | February 16, 2021

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, every day brings new information, concerns, and challenges regarding the spread of the virus, its economic and social impacts, and government directives. Leap Solutions remains dedicated to keeping you informed and empowered by delivering relevant, up-to-the-minute information and resources.

Our organizational development specialists are here to help support you with your online strategic planning, team development, executive coaching, training, program evaluation, and community engagement. Essentially, we can convert anything that you need in support of your business to a virtual experience. You still want to accomplish your plans, goals, and outcomes. We are here—virtually to help you achieve them.

Long before COVID, the recruitment world was already entrenched in taking advantage of everything virtual recruitment had to offer, however, in our COVID world, it doesn’t look like virtual recruitment will be slowing down anytime soon.

What exactly is virtual reality recruitment? Companies utilize virtual reality technology to attract, assess, and hire new employees by realistically, “virtually” engaging applicants in the hopes of enticing them to join their organization. Today, companies aren’t just utilizing video interviews, they’re taking things even further by utilizing virtual recruitment to source, screen, assess, and offer candidates a look into the “reality” of their businesses.

Our Newsletter will cover:

Advantages of Virtual Recruiting
Culture, a “Day in the Life” and Situational Assessments
Virtual Career Fairs
Disadvantages of Virtual Recruiting
Will Virtual Recruitment Replace Traditional Recruitment?

Advantages of Virtual Recruiting

Virtual recruitment enables recruiters to screen more candidates quickly in a shorter amount of time, streamline processes, enable recruiters to assign pre-interview online assessments, and give recruiters first-hand impressions of candidates. All these activities can happen before scheduling even one interview with their company, thus cutting down on needless interviews or slowing down the interview process. Although recruiters may see more resumes with online applications, the use of survey-like questionnaires can be incorporated that can eliminate unqualified applicants from the process. With online applications, you can also attract candidates from outside your local resident pool.

With up-front vetting of candidates and virtual cultural descriptions, companies have already embarked on cost-effective strategies with little initial upfront investments, allowing companies to reach a larger base of candidates in a shorter amount of time. Also, companies haven’t skipped a beat as virtual recruitment has supported keeping the candidate funnel full during the COVID-19 pandemic as many companies have been hiring remotely.

Culture, a “Day in the Life” and Situational Assessments

Interviewing in this new world, a frequently asked question is “What’s the culture like?” Often this is more important than compensation. How do you accurately describe culture verbally or even by video? Nothing is more exciting and stimulating than candidates getting a sensory experience of physically being a part of your organization but it may be quite some time until organization’s return to this type of culture.

Some ways to help your applicants experience your culture include:

• Virtual experiences have also made their way into taking potential employees on office tours with an occasional employee walking by to describe what it’s like to work for the company. Having employees come up with experiences or stores that describe your company’s culture can make an applicant see themselves in your environment.
• Another tool is to provide a “Day in the Life” experience in which they “meet” other members of the team and have them mirror the kind of work they’ll do while on the job.
• Walk applicants through assessments where they are given scenarios to participate in and asked to choose the best answer to each one of the scenarios. This is a good virtual tool for candidates who don’t interview well especially on camera.

These tools are perhaps the biggest benefit of virtual recruitment. Nothing outweighs the importance of the virtual experience in recruiting and engaging candidates in today’s workforce.

Virtual Career Fairs

In this new environment, smaller companies can host career fairs, because unlike traditional career fairs, virtual career fairs have minimal fees, no booth fees, onsite set-up, and employees don’t even have to leave the office (their home office) to attend! Candidates can tour a company “booth”, watch company videos, and chat live with employees via instant messaging or webcams.

Disadvantages of Virtual Recruiting

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage to virtual recruitment is the candidate experience. The candidate experience might suffer when the virtual recruiting is perceived to be impersonal and unengaging. Online sourcing and qualifying strategies may save your company time and money, but can also be a real turn off for qualified candidates who may not feel as valued.

Communication with candidates needs to be multi-faceted. Keep candidates engaged along the entire process of virtual recruitment by preparing them for what is to come, where they are in the process, and how they can prepare.

Lastly, more isn’t always better. More candidates applying to your posting doesn’t always ensure you’ll find “the one”. Continue to be selective and prioritize by the qualities and experiences you desire.

Will Virtual Recruitment Replace Traditional Recruitment?

A personal touch would always be the first preference to any recruitment, but the advantages of virtual recruitment can outweigh the disadvantages. It saves time, money, and allows potential employers a glance at potential employees before they even step inside the building. This allows employers can get a better understanding of what candidates have to offer before investing additional time, energy, and money.

It can also be argued that virtual recruitment offers a fairer opportunity across geographically and socio-economic backgrounds as organizations can now reach a lot of people across these domains. In turn, virtual recruiting makes it fairer for everybody by helping the interviewer streamline the hiring process.

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