Hiring Solutions Are Rooted in HR Automation
Managing the talent funnel is tough. You will never hear me argue that. Having cut my teeth in HR working in the service industry and managing, training, and hiring hourly staff, you must be equipped to handle an assortment of dare I say creative and unusual situations. Service industry managers and HR folks know exactly what I am talking about. We see the best and worst in employee and candidates when we are hiring, firing, and working with them day to day. The service industry also one of the fastest growing industries complete with high turnover and a large percentage of workers work in this field from varying backgrounds, ages, and demographics. Don’t believe me? The service industry employes 3 out of every 5 people. Like right now, we are hiring, training, and working with ALOT of seasonal and holiday staff. We’re juggling that while running around like crazy stacking endcaps, sweeping sidewalks, throwing freight, and serving as the backup cashier. Did I mention we’re also the cook while the other guy is on break?
Hiring & Retaining the Hourly Workforce
That’s why I believe that the solutions to our talent funnel are rooted in HR automation and hiring solutions. Earlier this year I spent a couple days in Charleston, South Carolina, with the super awesome folks from PeopleMatter. I’ve met their team, drank beers with their HR Manager, and demoed and even reviewed their HR technology (Check out my review on their Scheduler Product by clicking here.) So I jumped at the chance to check out their newest video. They are a fun and creative group which you’ll see when you click and watch the video below. Here are some of the highlights that stood out for me having served much of my HR life in the service industry that I love.
- Companies are throwing money away and in a high turnover industry like retail and hospitality, any cost savings or tax credits add up. 80% of eligible employers don’t file for the available hiring credits. Things like the Work Tax Opportunity Credit (WOTC) or Veterans Opportunity Tax Credit (VOTC) provide companies up to $5,600 in tax savings per veteran. When it comes to mass hiring, these numbers and the savings can really add up fast.
- Hiring automation is essential for managers in customer facing locations where employee turnover is high and the majority of positions are hourly and part time. Payroll hours fluctuate daily based on location sales. Salaried managers are essentially free payroll so we don’t mess around making efficient HR technologies like applicant tracking and onboarding even more important.
- 86% of customers stop doing business after 1 bad customer experience. With the growth of social media, it makes it easier for companies to monitor online activities, reviews, and bad customer experiences. Except that once we post these experiences online, the damage has been done. A bad customer service experience has already occurred. Hiring quality candidates, training, and training them can be the difference between meeting your location’s sales projections or not. As I mentioned, we don’t have time to mess around so it’s important to focus on important things like quality hires and employee development so we can drive the business.
Hire better people with PeopleMatter HIRE™ from PeopleMatter on Vimeo.
2 Comments
I think you’re absolutely right about the need for automated HR solutions, especially in any hiring procedures that include a defined onboarding process. The Aberdeen Group mentions a statistic in their “Onboarding Benchmark Report: Technology Drivers Help Improve the New Hire Experience,” that is a bit staggering to process: “Although 90% of companies believe that their employees make their decision to stay at the company within the first 6 months, many of these companies do not recognize or acknowledge how onboarding impacts retention rates and time to productivity. Instead, they rely on paper-based solutions that create added costs and often leave a bad first impression that negatively affects the company brand.” It definitely seems like more companies should replace their current manual procedures with automated/web-based solutions to streamline internal communication and enhance employee engagement.
Hi Rebecca,
I haven’t yet read Aberdeen’s report on onboarding and will be sure to check it out. Onboarding is so important and first impressions really do matter. We spend so much time wooing candidates before they even start working for us only to let them down. That’s a big opportunity for HR, training, and managers in general.
Thanks for the comment.
JMM
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