Building a High Impact Hiring and Onboarding Process in a Virtual World | Crosschq

1- Hiring volumes, at least in tech, are back to normal levels, but the hiring process has changed significantly.

Companies, especially startups, are hiring. We went through a period when hiring was frozen and companies stepped back to assess hiring needs and processes. Companies are hiring again with a focus on critical roles. And orgs, now more than ever, have to make sure those hires drive forward the business plans and focus on desired outcomes. – Jen Holmstrom

2- Brand stories and companies’ value propositions are paramount to attracting top talent.

With the pandemic, they (companies with remote workforces) don’t have the competitive edge in hiring that they had before. They have to focus on brand, value prop and tell their story to candidates to win. – Kate Caulfield

3- Most candidates think they’d flourish in a remote work environment, but the reality can be much different.

We survey candidates and their peers about remote work. 9.5 out of 10 candidates think they’d be great working remotely. But 20% less of their peers and managers think they’d flourish remotely. This puts pressure on anyone hiring to better understand candidate behavior. – Mike Fitzsimmons

We’ve seen attrition because people think that they’d like to work remotely in theory, but don’t like it in practice, but companies can try to screen for that early. – Jen Holmstrom

4- A remote work option isn’t the differentiator it used to be and it’s here to stay.

You’re going to have strong managers. They will be your amplifiers. Having them prepped to manage in a remote environment is key. For new managers or those who manage big teams, there’s an added layer of complexity. Management training is critical. Developing and retaining great talent is now more important than ever. – Jen Holmstrom

5- Candidates are paying close attention to a company’s risk factors when deciding where to apply.

In the usual startup environment, there’s always going to be movement between companies.  What this (Covid-19) has prompted is more candidates with lower risk profiles. But even pre-Covid, when assessing Google, Facebook, etc. verus startups, certain candidates are looking for the stability of a big company over a startup. – Jen Holmstrom

One thing we’ve seen in looking at offer declination data, which hovers around 12% for HashiCorp, is the reason people decline is shifting. Only 1 person in 2019 declined so they could stay at their current company. This year to date, already 10 chose to stay at their current company. People are risk-averse and hesitant to make changes right now. – Kate Caulfield

6- Companies are paying attention to candidate risk as well, trying to avoid the over hire.

People are taking jobs just to take jobs, so there’s risk in losing people when the pandemic ends.  Dentists are taking jobs as drivers. Heads of Talent Acquisition have increased sensitivity to over hiring. They are getting lots of qualified talent, but they’re not going to chase the A player because they don’t want to lose them as soon as the market gets back. – Mike Fitzsimmons

7- Diversity, equity and inclusion has to be a constant top-down focus, and bottoms-up tactics have to be implemented.

Generationaly, leadership thinks they’re open minded and thought they were doing better than they were. So they didnt put systems in place to ensure what they thought was happening was actually happening. But now they can plainly see where they failed. They’re trying to hold themselves accountable now. They’re publishing goals, looking at the data. They have to work harder. – Mike Fitzsimmons

8- Minority candidate pools aren’t the issue; it’s getting them from the talent pools into the pipeline that has to be the focus.

Diversity is something you pay attention to in sourcing, vetting, screening, and hiring. Make the company attractive to underrepresented groups by creating a diverse, inclusive and open culture. We can look to schools from a sourcing perspective, but have to ensure they have a diverse student group. We need to make public anti-racism best practices and hold ourselves accountable to the data. There’s lots of work to be done. We can’t quit because it’s hard. – Jen Holmstrom

9- Successfully onboarding new hires virtually is paramount to ensuring retention.

Gallup has great data on the human experience in the workplace. They state that 69% of employees are likely to stay at a company for 3+ years with good onboarding. – Jen Holmstrom

Within a week HashiCorp shifted onboarding to 100% virtual. There are 3 key components: 1) We provide live (virtual) sessions with leadership and exec teams. 2) We provide recordings of other leaders talking about their teams and orgs. New hires can listen and learn at their own pace. 3) HashiCafes, coffee talks that would normally be in the breakroom, are done virtually. Facilitators set an agenda, everyone gets coffee at home and joins via Zoom to have casual conversations and connect like they would in a lunchroom. – Kate Caulfield

10- Favorite book that addresses talent and talent management:

1. Mike: Any book by (Sir Ernest) Shackleton
2. Jen: Who, by Geoff Smart
3. Kate: How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie