Blog

The tightest market for talent in five decades has resulted in a cavalcade of content from thought leaders, analysts and vendors, most of it focused on fixing what’s broken in current recruitment processes. Improving the candidate experience is a hot topic, because it’s a buyer’s market.

What do candidates really want? Recruitment marketing, which represents the largest portion of most talent acquisition budgets, is getting a lot of attention, and the prevailing best practices have their origins in consumer marketing.

“Sorry I’m late. I got caught up at work. No, I wasn’t busy with anything or swamped with any important projects. I just had to stay there. I literally just had to be in the building.”

This is one side of an actual greeting overheard at a recent social event. His remarks and explanation for tardiness were met with collective laughter and nods of understanding and empathy from the group. If there were any HR leaders in the crowd, they certainly would have cringed at the sound. Is there anything worse than an employee who is present but not productive, sucking up company funds without contributing anything in return?

Are your employees engaged? It’s a question that has earned its place at the forefront of business strategy, because it directly affects the quality of work produced and overall outcomes. Eight out of ten business leaders rank employee experience, including engagement, as important or very important for the future of their companies. But even when organizations have a generalized understanding that engagement is valuable, it’s not always easy to show a measurable return on investment in terms of dollars and cents. Yet that is precisely what it takes to demonstrate value to those in charge of budget approvals.

If you’ve ever had a young child of your own or have been around nieces or nephews, you’ve probably witnessed the overwhelming panic - and corresponding tantrum - associated with being separated from a favorite belonging. For many kids, it’s something plush like a stuffed animal or soft linen, and it has the superpower of making the most troubling situations seem okay. If you happen to misplace this beloved item, beware. The concept of a security blanket is introduced to us at a young age, but the need for security stays with us as our lives ebb and flow.