What Is an Onboarding Process?

A thorough onboarding process can improve employee retention by 82%. Is your current onboarding program capable of increasing retention?

Understanding the Onboarding Process

Onboarding is the process of integrating new hires into your company. It includes the steps necessary for new employee assimilation, such as:

  • Discussion of company structure, vision, goals, mission, values, and culture
  • New hire paperwork
  • Orientation information
  • Preboarding processes

The onboarding experience is crucial to your new hire’s success. It’s your job to make sure your new employees understand their role and complete all the necessary HR paperwork to get started on the right foot.

Many businesses don’t spend enough time developing a quality onboarding program, which can lead to confusion and frustration in new hires. It’s not enough to hand an employee a stack of paperwork because it doesn’t engage or excite recruits. 

Onboarding processes vary by company and depend heavily on your new employee’s role. Here are engaging steps to take during onboarding that work for all types of roles:

Preboarding Processes

Preboarding familiarizes your new team member with your company before their actual start date. These processes include:

  • Giving the employee a tour of the building
  • Introducing new hires to other team members
  • Sending your recruit a care package with branded gear
  • Emailing information about benefits, company culture, and general information

Preboarding gets your recruits engaged in their employee onboarding journey because they begin to understand the business, get to know people, and feel included all before their start date.

Formal Orientation

Orientation is formal training for new hires. Because this process involves your recruit learning a lot of new information, it’s best to complete this over a few days or weeks. The goal of formal orientation is to:

  • Give new employees a positive impression of your business
  • Familiarize them with your company image
  • Open dialogue for questions
  • Explain dress code
  • Describe expectations and procedures
  • Inform employees of paydays, sick leave, vacation, and other benefits

Paperwork Completion

Paperwork is the least exciting aspect of the onboarding process, but it’s important and needs to be done correctly.

Many new hires don’t know how to fill out W-2s or I-9s, so if necessary, you should guide them through the completion process to make sure they fill them out properly.

To break up tedious paperwork, include a fun worksheet. Your worksheet can include questions about the new hires’ favorite snacks, movies, songs, and fun facts about them.

The Importance of an Adequate Onboarding Process

There are many reasons proper onboarding is essential for your business:

Increased Engagement

When employees thoroughly understand their role, they’re more interested in what they’re doing. No one wants to start a job without adequate onboarding, as they’ll be confused about their daily tasks and expectations.

Taking the time to train your new team members properly makes them feel comfortable and valued. When people feel cared for, they want to return the feeling by staying engaged and producing quality work for your business.

Higher Retention Rates

With increased engagement comes higher retention rates. Engaged employees are nearly 87% less likely to leave their organization, so having an engaging onboarding process is extremely valuable.

Studies show that when a business has excellent onboarding processes, 69% of employees are likely to stay for at least three years. Take the time to develop unique onboarding strategies that intrigue your new hires and encourage them to consider a long-term career with your business.

Proper Integration

Our onboarding processes allow your new hires to get acclimated with your company. Offering your recruits a comprehensive overview of their duties and responsibilities and familiarizing them with their team prepares them for their role.

Without an effective orientation or preboarding process, your employee may be confused about your expectations of them. To make sure their integration is successful, give them the proper tools to succeed during their onboarding.

How To Get Superior Onboarding Support

If you want to improve your current onboarding processes, partner with AAIM. We offer various training courses for new hires that make your onboarding more engaging, including:

  • Basic business skills
  • Building your career
  • Creating great teamwork
  • Customer service basics
  • Leadership communication skills

We make sure your onboarding process is ready to go for your new hires so that you can increase engagement and retention and properly integrate your recruits.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can streamline your onboarding process.

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Benefits of Integrated HR Systems

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Integrated HR Systems Explained

Integrated HR systems merge your HR functions into simplified human resource management platforms. Having all HR functions on centralized platforms simplifies your HR process and increases workforce management.

Some of the functions you can integrate are:

  • Payroll and benefits
  • Employee data
  • Compliance forms
  • Paperwork portals
  • Applicant tracking

Five Benefits of Integrated HR Systems

Upgrading to  integrated HR systems helps your company in many ways:

Customizable HR System

With integrated HR systems, you get to pick and choose which aspects of technology you want to use. You’re able to create different packages based on your needs, and you can add new systems, like a payroll application, to your integrated platform if you want. 

Integrated HR systems are budget friendly and entirely based on your needs. You can implement an onboarding platform, background screening platform, and applicant tracking system when you integrate your HR systems.

Improved Employee Experience

Employees benefit from integrated HR systems because their information, including onboarding paperwork, applicant tracking, and background screening is hosted through compatible technology systems. Paperwork is much easier to fill out with these HR systems. 

Plus, if employees manage all of their information through online portals, their overall experience as your employee improves, thereby increasing employee retention. Both you and your employees reap the benefits of an integrated human resource system.

Mobile-Friendly Integrated HR Systems

With technology constantly evolving, mobile-friendly HR applications are beneficial for your HR system. Mostly everyone has a phone, and user-friendly platforms increase your employees’ experience with your HR systems.

Your team will realize how simple it is to update their onboarding information, access their applicant tracking system, and complete background checks using the device they use every day.

Increased Compliance

Employment laws are constantly changed or tweaked, and it’s important to stay up to date with your corresponding forms, so your business stays compliant with relevant regulations. 

Integrated technology solutions will automatically update your forms and alert HR individuals of the new forms available.

Integrate Your Payroll Management

Payroll information is typically held on a separate platform, making it harder to access since it’s separate from other HR systems. With an integrated approach, you have the ability to link with other payroll providers, like ADP, Paycor, or whatever provider you prefer.

What Features Should My Integrated HR Systems Have?

When choosing your integrated HR system, it’s important to check for key features that benefit you in the long run. These features include:

  • Dashboard functions that organize employee information
  • Applicant tracking system
  • Job postings
  • Onboarding paperwork
  • Compliant forms
  • Background checks
  • Payroll management integrations
  • Mobile friendly platforms

Make sure your integrated HR systems have all the benefits you need to keep your HR department running smoothly. 

Where Can I Get Started?

AAIM provides companies with quality integrated HR systems with all the features you’re looking for so you can improve your HR department today! With over 120 years of experience, we promise to get you on the right page.

AAIM’s HR systems are customizable and based on your business’s needs. We aren’t a one-size-fits-all integrated HR provider—we know that every company has its own HR requirements. 

AAIM offers integrated solutions that allow your organization to select the pieces that work for you. From starting with AAIMTrack, initiating the background through AAIMCheck to initiating the onboarding process through Onboard EXP with mere clicks of a button, we’ve made it easier than ever to hire your next excellent employee!

AAIM also provides a strict process through Professional Background Screens (PBSA), and we are 1 of 120+ holding this accreditation. We also educate and advise clients on best practices to implement an added level of security

Let us help you complete the next step after your integrated HR systems are implemented. AAIM assists you with:

  • Executive and management coaching
  • Computer training
  • Talent management
  • Team building
  • Sales training
  • Compensation strategies and surveys
  • Leadership training

Reach out to an AAIM professional today and discover the benefits of becoming a member.

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Alternative Hiring Solutions in the Age of a Talent Shortage

“Where are all of the qualified candidates? Why does it take so long to fill my open roles?” If you’re responsible for hiring, you’re no stranger to these challenges. As employers grow more desperate for workers, staffing has become more frustrating than ever. A rebounding economy is great for organizational growth, but how will employers keep up with the demand for talent during a labor shortage? Now is the time for businesses to explore alternative hiring solutions.

It’s only becoming more difficult to compete for talent. So, where do you turn and how can you fill those open roles?

Here are a few suggestions:

  1.  Revisit former employees for re-hireWhat candidate could you understand better than a previous employee? Reaching out to former employees who left on good terms can expand your pool of qualified candidates. At the time, they may have left for an opportunity that simply wasn’t available to them within the organization. If you have a position to fill that they’re qualified for, it wouldn’t hurt to reach out. At worst, you won’t hear back, or they’ll decline your invitation, but they may also entertain the idea or share the opening with their network.
  2. Utilize a temporary workforceCould your open role be filled by a candidate who is looking for a temporary opportunity? In many cases, being short staffed means that existing team members must absorb the extra workload of open roles. Hiring temp workers to cover in the interim can alleviate some of the extra work that the rest of the team is carrying.  Additionally, this type of alternative hiring strategy provides you the opportunity to evaluate their long-term potential while allowing the search for permanent candidates to continue.
  3. Explore gig-worker opportunitiesA “gig worker” is looking for just that, a “gig” or a freelance opportunity. Does your open role lend itself to being project based where the person doing the work could be paid per job? With the massive growth of gig employers like Lyft, Uber, Fiverr & more, it’s worth nothing that flexible, project-based employment opportunities have attracted a significant portion of the US workforce. Gig workers are providing a wide range of services such as: software programming, graphic design, housekeeping, personal assistant services and many more. While this alternative hiring method isn’t applicable for all jobs, thinking outside the box in a tight labor market might help fill your next position more quickly.
  4. Determine if a worker with a disability can perform the essential functions of the roleWhile your workplace may be following ADA laws when it comes to discrimination against applicants with disabilities, many employers simply aren’t familiar with actively recruiting disabled workers through promoting inclusivity. Candidates with disabilities can be a great fit for many jobs because of their diverse backgrounds and breadth of skills. Input from these often-underrepresented workers is also being used to create new products and ensure facilities are maximally accessible. The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) offers many resources for employers. For more, listen to Episode 141 of The Morning Briefing, “Hiring People with Disabilities”
  5. Consider expanding your candidate pool to include ex-offendersWhile this isn’t possible for all businesses, many organizations are loosening their restrictions and opening up positions to ex-offenders. In addition to the benefit of filling an open role in a tight economy, employers can take advantage of tax incentives from the federal government. Some states and cities have also started offering incentives for hiring ex-offenders. Utilizing a thorough criminal background check to evaluate the specifics of the offense and how it relates to the role is critical.

Battling for a small pool of qualified candidates can be frustrating and lead to long periods of unfilled positions. Considering alternative approaches to traditional hiring methods can set your organization apart as well as improve overall time-to-hire.

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Top 10 Background Screening Myths Debunked

The ins and outs of background checks are often a source of confusion for employers. Can companies perform them in-house? What’s “the box” and why is it banned? To ensure you’re practicing fair hiring and avoiding critical mistakes, we sat down for an interview with Matt Wideman, Product Manager, Talent Technologies & Background Verification.

Myth #1: Only large companies conduct background checks.

The size of a company should not dictate whether background checks are performed.  Industry, type of work, and who employees interact with are just a few factors to consider.  In fact, according to a survey done by the Professional Background Screeners Association (PBSA), 42% of companies conducting background checks in 2019 had fewer than 100 employees.  Additionally, approximately 52% of companies conduct fewer than 100 screenings annually.

Myth #2: Only for-profit employers need to conduct background checks.

Non-profit organizations, including charities and religious organizations, should be conducting background screenings for both employees and volunteers.  Conducting these screenings protects the communities and vulnerable populations that these organizations serve.

Myth #3: “I don’t need to run background checks on my applicants since most candidates tell the truth on resumes.”

A recent Harris Poll conducted for Career Builder showed that 58% of hiring managers have discovered lies on resumes.  Background screenings ensure that the information provided in terms of employment and education are accurate.

Myth #4 All background checks are the same.

The type and depth of background checks that companies run can vary greatly. Some screenings are only cursory database searches that can miss criminal results at the federal level and sometimes at the state or county levels as well.  Some checks also exclude searches like a Social Security Trace, which help to populate county/state jurisdictions and will provide alias names that need to be searched.

Myth #5: All background check providers are the same.

There are over 3,000 companies across the country who provide background screening services.  These organizations, known as Consumer Reporting Agencies (or CRAs), differ in size, services available, and methodology used to convey results.  The level of service provided, educational resources, and expertise also vary greatly from one company to another.

On the other hand, there are fewer than 200 organizations in the United States that are accredited through the Professional Background Screeners Association (PBSA). Such accreditation requires that these organizations have taken steps to not only have strict policies and procedures in place, but also have taken the time to document their practices and to ensure the safety of the consumer and their clients with regards to the information provided.  Some CRAs also require their screeners to further their education and maintain certifications with regards to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Companies should do their research to ensure that their CRA will provide them with accurate, in-depth screenings that will protect their organization.  They should also make sure that their CRA can provide knowledge and education to support inquiries and answer questions.

Myth #6: All states have the same laws for reporting criminal background results to employers.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act does have a set standard for search scope and reporting guidelines, however, state by state laws vary greatly and supersede those set forth by FCRA.  Some states allow only convictions to be reported whereas others have differing search scope requirements.  Some states even have specific laws on how to treat specific offense types.  What holds true for one state does not for all.

Myth #7: Background checks are too expensive for my organization.

The costs associated with background checks can vary depending on what screenings a company requires and which CRA is used.  Most checks cost less than $50 per hire.  However, a bad hire can cost much more in both time and money. Career Builder reports that a bad hire can cost an organization as much as $15,000. A good background check provider can consult and help companies understand what types of searches are appropriate for their organization and design a package to fit their needs.

Myth #8: Background checks slow down hiring processes and take too long.

Many background checks can be done within 24 hours and most can be completed within 2-3 days.  However, some municipalities do take longer to provide results to all agencies. Companies should ask what typical turnaround times are for each of the searches being ordered. A little extra time for a thorough search is well worth it when considering the time, expense, and long-term impact that a bad hire can have on an organization.

Myth #9: “When an employer orders a background check, the screening agency will handle everything, and I can just sit back and wait for the results.”

There are some steps that an employer is required to take before and potentially after a background check is conducted.

Employers are required to provide the following to the candidate prior to performing a background check:

  • Summary of Rights under the FCRA
  • Consumer Report Disclosures
  • Authorization Form

If the employer decides not to move forward with the candidate after the background check has been performed, they need to follow adverse action procedures.

Reputable screening organizations can provide a company with compliant documents or online systems to ensure that their responsibilities as the employer are satisfied when placing a background request.

Myth #10: Ban the Box laws inhibit an employer’s ability to screen for things that could disqualify a candidate for employment.

Ban the Box laws simply prohibit the use of questions directly to a candidate that could disqualify them without a search.  Nothing changes in terms of the employer’s ability to conduct a background screening on applicants.  Be sure to consult an HR professional or legal advisor to ensure compliance with local laws regarding Ban the Box.

The bottom line on background checks — Conducting background checks doesn’t have to be a hassle. Ensure that your company’s hiring managers know not to go looking for information on their own, apply your policies consistently, and enforce the rules fairly. AAIM’s background checking service, AAIMCheck, helps organizations efficiently manage comprehensive employment screening programs. We offer a full range of searches including: various levels of criminal searches, verifications, references, and credentials, with world-class customer service. Request more information.

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How to Document Effective Interview Feedback

Great hires start with great interview feedback. When interviewing candidates, your hiring decisions rely on good communication between interviewers. And this involves documenting specific interview feedback and sharing it with your team in a consistent way.

Why consistent interview feedback is important

Taking the time to think through and document a structured process for interview feedback is incredibly important when it comes to fairly evaluating candidates. Well written feedback from your hiring team means it’s easier to determine whether the candidate is the right fit. The benefit of standardizing your feedback process and sharing it with the team in a consistent way cannot be understated.

Here are some helpful tips to begin standardizing your internal interview feedback:

Standardize the Evaluation Process

Vague questions elicit vague answers. To make smart decisions, you need consistent scoring. A standardized feedback system is the difference between having usable data and having a handful of anecdotes and gut feelings. Start with your hiring criteria and implement a scoring system for each interview.

Train Your Hiring Team

Arrange a meeting with your hiring team to explain the standardized system. Use examples to distinguish the difference in specific, helpful feedback and vague, non-specific comments.

Here are a few of examples:

Create a Great Candidate Experience

A standardized interview process empowers your hiring team members to more quickly and effectively evaluate candidates, while giving candidates the kind of experience they deserve for committing their time and energy to a process defined by its fundamental unpredictability. Without a clear plan for each interview, it’s easy for things to get off track and lose track of candidate feedback. AAIMTrack makes it easier for employers to share valuable feedback with key decision-makers in one streamlined applicant tracking system.

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Are Your Candidates Ghosting You?

Employers across the country are feeling the annoyance of being “ghosted” according to a recent study. More and more job seekers are skipping out on interviews they have previously committed to, not responding to inquiries from hiring managers or even going so far as to skip their first day of work after accepting a job offer.

Although ghosting isn’t formally measured like unemployment rates and other key data, estimates put the current rate of candidate ghosting at around 20 to 50%. With happy, engaged candidates being less likely to fall out of communication, it only makes sense to follow these key pieces of advice to build stronger relationships with candidates.

1. Use Your Candidate’s Preferred Method of Communication

Something as simple as texting a candidate can improve your hiring process. Texts are an easy and efficient way to connect with candidates. Everyone texts and many job seekers are already employed, so a phone call may not be the ideal way to reach them.

A text message allows them to be discreet. Texts are also fast, giving both recruiters and candidates an immediate way to reach each other.

2. Build a Relationship

Job seekers have the upper hand in today’s job market. When you’re interviewing each candidate, it’s important that you make them feel valued and important. More than likely, other staffing firms and employers are wooing them, so who can blame them for heading elsewhere if your process falls short and doesn’t make them feel like you’re interested?

3. Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up

We’ve all been there. It’s not uncommon for the hiring process to hit roadblocks. Clients get delayed. Someone new is brought on causing disagreements amongst the team about who to hire and when. Issues like this can result in a long, drawn out hiring process. With the dwindling shelf life of today’s pool of candidates, it’s crucial that you remain transparent about your timeline and any obstacles to avoid massive breaks in communication that lead to candidate ghosting.

Strong communication throughout the hiring process, a structured onboarding program and clear lines of feedback are the most important elements of your candidate engagement strategy.

AAIM has put a lot of thought into what makes a great experience for candidates, recruiters and hiring managers. AAIMTrack is an integrated recruiting and applicant tracking system scalable to companies’ hiring needs. With one-click job board postings, social recruiting, and online screening tools, finding and screening talent couldn’t be easier. Having a streamlined hiring process allows organizations to shift valuable time toward strategic planning and provides the reporting required for continuous improvement.

Click here to learn more about Applicant Tracking with AAIMTrack.

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How to Sell Your Company Culture in the Interview

A job interview is a two-way street. While you’re evaluating a potential new hire to find the best fit for an open position, those candidates are evaluating you and your organization. Job candidates look at everything from how you’re dressed to who’s present at the interview to the work environment to determine if your company is a good fit for them.

A job interview often serves as a candidate’s first impression of your organization and company culture — and you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. Just as you expect candidates to put their best foot forward during an interview, they expect you to do the same. Take advantage of this time with candidates to show them what your company and the position are all about.

Company Culture and Its Importance

With the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.7% and average hourly earnings on the rise, company culture is one of your biggest assets when it comes to selling your organization to potential new hires.

A company culture consists of a company mission, core values, goals, expectations, ethics and work environment. Having a strong company culture that is easily defined is crucial to employees because they are more likely to enjoy their time in the workplace when they fit in with the company culture. They also tend to form better relationships with coworkers and are more productive in their work.

Employees are also more likely to create a lifelong career and want to stay with a company longer if they mesh well with the company culture. Research shows that employees who are engaged are less likely to leave.

How to Make Your Company Culture Stand Out During Interviews

It’s important to show off your company’s culture during the interview process because everyone wants to work for a fun company. You spend more time working than you do with your family, so you want to enjoy spending time in the office.

The best way to show off your company culture is through the people that create and live it every day — your employees. Consider making your employees a part of the interview process, so they can give candidates a broad view of your organization’s culture.

Register for AAIM4More
Thursday, September 26 | 7:30AM – 4:00PM
The Redbird Club in Busch Stadium

Based on a combined 40 years with Walt Disney World along with many years of consulting with organizations around the world, Louie Gravance and Dennis Snow will provide a how-to program for creating and sustaining a high performing company culture. Working in groups, this interactive workshop will provide you with the tools and resources to build a clearly defined culture for your organization. We’ll discuss putting it all together and how to weave your organizations culture into every aspect of your business.

Learn More & Register

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How to Update an Employee Handbook for 2020

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As Labor Day approaches and summer comes to an end, now is the time to update your Employee Handbooks to ensure compliance with the ever-changing employment law landscape. As you begin the project of creating or updating your company’s employee handbook, here are some things to keep in mind.

Create an Outline

Before you begin creating or updating your employee handbook, start off by creating a list of important policies that you know you’ll want to include. As you’re creating a list, do some research with:

  • Company Employees. Reach out to new and seasoned employees. Ask them, “What do they wish they had known when they were hired?”
  • Plan providers. What are the most frequently asked questions? What can your company do a better job of communicating?
  • Company Programs. What is working well? What isn’t? Are their programs that your employees do not know about because they haven’t been communicated very well?
  • Employee surveys or questionnaires. Do you have any procedures or programs that are misunderstood?
  • Senior managers. What do they want every employee to know? Is there a common issue that seems to be driving everyone crazy?

Begin Gathering Content for your 2020 Employee Handbook

Now that you have established a checklist of important information that you’d like to include in your handbook, it’s time to start gathering content. An employee handbook typically covers Human Resources policies on dress code, office access, anti-harassment, confidential information, payroll information, benefits, holidays, Paid Time Off (PTO) and more.

Although most of this information will come from the Human Resources department, it is a good idea to consult other departments. They may have valuable information to contribute that will help your employees know what to do in a variety of situations. For example, if your employees use a computer or company provided phone as a part of their job, consider adding policies from your IT Department about Password Protocol and Social Networking.

Create a Table of Contents

After you have finished gathering your content, now you will need to organize it. It is helpful to create a detailed list of contents at the front of the handbook. Don’t just list “Benefits,” list specifics like “Short Term Disability” or “Bereavement Time” with a page number (if your handbook is in print) or link.

If your handbook is in print, consider including an index at the back of the book. Although many people will go to the table of contents to find a topic, about half will check the back of the book for the index. That’s why it’s important to have both in your handbook, so you’re making it easy for everyone to find what they’re looking for.

Tips for Implementing New or Changing Employee Handbook Policies

HR Daily Advisor recommends using several channels for communicating and disseminating the updated handbook. This could include a mass staff email with a link to the new material, a post on the company’s intranet system, or even a post in the break room to ensure workers are aware. Consider highlighting where updates or changes to the handbook have been made and how they differ from what was in place in the past.

Download AAIM’s 2020 Employee Handbook Checklist.

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Five Ways to Ruin a Great Hire When Working With a Recruiter

Recruiters provide a competitive advantage when it comes to securing the best talent available. Of course, I am somewhat biased because I founded a search firm in 2005. However, there is no question that having someone else represent your company and “selling” your opportunity on your behalf can produce better results.

I know many companies feel they can do it on their own, but more often than not, there is a greater return on investment when using a search firm. This allows employers to focus on what they do best (running their business) instead of getting pulled into the business of searching for top talent. To further reiterate my point, here is something that many people do not know. There are recruiting firms that specialize in hiring people for recruiting firms! You may find that surprising, but search firms are also busy running their business and taking care of their own clients’ needs. From temporary placements to executive hires, even recruiters are reaping the benefits of a 3rd party who can prioritize finding their next best hire.

Here are a few of the benefits that companies often state in partnering with a 3rd party to conduct the recruiting process for them:

  • “You saved me so much time and I was able to focus on driving our business while knowing our hiring needs were being taken care of.”
  • “I am not sure how you found people directly in our industry who had a great track record too, as we were only finding very general backgrounds.”
  • “When we interviewed your candidate, they told us they were not even looking for a new career, but you were able to highlight some of the key aspects of working for us which piqued their interest.”

However, here are some common missteps that a company can make when using a recruiting firm:

  1. Assuming that only the recruiter should have contact with the candidate. A company should answer thank you emails from the candidate, especially as it nears an offer. Direct communication with the candidate is an important step in building a relationship with your future employee.
  2. A company should not assume that when they find a good candidate, they can wait or stall the process. Too often, companies assume that if they lose them, the recruiter will just find another one. Today’s market is a very tight candidate pool, with many opportunities for them. I remember one year I thought I had found my dream car. I told the salesperson I just wanted to think about it overnight and called him the next morning to say I’d be in to purchase it that day. Little did I know that it was someone else’s dream car too, and someone had come in and purchased it already. Same with great talent, they don’t last long…
  3. Don’t think that a long recruiting process makes a candidate feel more appreciated. I recently explained to a hiring manager who had taken someone through 7 steps and meetings with 9 people that this situation is like when someone wants to introduce the person they are dating to their family. If they have them meet the: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins… before they feel they can commit to a relationship with them, the other person starts to wonder what is going on… same with a candidate.
  4. Highlight and “sell” the benefits of working for you. A good recruiter will do this too, but your future employee wants to hear it directly from the staff too. Remember, they have choices, and great candidates will have multiple offers to choose from.
  5. Make them feel welcome. Be in constant communication with your new hire from the time they accept your offer and begin working with you. Remember, this is the time that the company in which they are leaving will make them feel extra special, by making promises and counter offers. If you go dark during this time frame, your candidate may begin to feel conflicted and second guess their decision. Lastly, make sure your onboarding is a great experience as well!

The best hiring processes are thorough and swift. When you find the dream candidate, act quickly so someone else doesn’t beat you to them!

AAIM provides a wide spectrum of premium recruiting services to fit your organization’s needs. Click here to learn more or call us today at 314-754-0182 to speak to one of our talent acquisition experts.

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Weaving Diversity into the Fabric of Your Organization

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Many small and medium-sized businesses do not have a focus on diversity and inclusion within their organizations.  Most do not have any internal Human Resources position not to mention a role focused on diversity.  This type of effort for smaller businesses is usually led by a “leader” who determines why it is important for the organization and decides to champion this effort.

We here at AAIM have been helping businesses do just that, and while each organization’s journey is unique, there are shared themes related to the approaches that gain energy.  Essentially, diversity among employees means establishing a mix that reflects the cultural differences of customers, clients, and your organization’s overall audience.

While diversity is the “what”, inclusiveness is the “how” and refers to the ongoing activity as businesses adjust their behaviors, practices, and environment to incorporate diversity in all its forms.

Aside from being morally right, why should small businesses incorporate diversity and inclusion?  The clear answer is that if you get diversity and inclusion right in your organization, you stand to make considerable business gains no matter how big or small your business is.

 Here are 7 ways to start infusing D&I into the fabric of your organizational culture:

    1. Literally, write a diversity and inclusion statement into your business core values. This demonstrates to your external and internal customers that you are not only serious but sincere.
    2. Nothing will be successful without a plan. However, keep in mind that this is a long-term commitment- not an immediate win.
    3. Ask what regular meetings, events, and training does the business need?
    4. Address the “elephants in the room” – the unconscious biases that staff may have that will influence their ability to implement diversity and inclusion initiatives at work.
    5. Ensure that Team Leaders understand the “why”. It is essential that these behaviors and values are embraced from the top down.
    6. Evaluate recruitment efforts, onboarding sessions, marketing pieces, and promotion and disciplinary practices to echo the commitment to diversity and inclusion.
    7. Communicate! Spend time together! Listen to one another!  Team Build! Get to know the cultural backgrounds of your team!

Creating a better understanding is key.  There is a lot to gain by committing to drive diversity and inclusion as core values and behaviors in your business. Job satisfaction equals better business results.

For a more in-depth look at the subject, CLICK HERE to get more information about and sign up for “Developing a Diversity Initiative Plan”

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