Category: Recruitment

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Mind Your Internal Emails to Avoid Discrimination Issues

Shazor v. Professional Transit Mgmt., Inc. (6th Cir. 2/19/14), interests me for two reasons. First, it discusses and applies a “sex-plus” theory of discrimination to save a plaintiff’s race discrimination and sex discrimination claims from the summary-judgment scrap heap. “Sex-plus” recognizes that race and sex are not mutually exclusive, and protects African-American woman as a class of their own. I recommend Shazor to your reading list for its interesting narrative on this issue.

I want to discuss, however, the other interesting aspect of Shazor — the evidence the plaintiff used to avoid summary judgment. She submitted various emails between two corporate executives, in which they unflatteringly referred to her as a “prima donna,” “disloyal, disrespectful,” and a “hellava bitch.” Shazor successfully argued that these emails were code for “angry black woman” or “uppity black woman.” The court used these emails as prima-facie evidence of discrimination in support of her “sex-plus” claim.

Email is a powerful communication tool. It’s also very permanent. I’ve been saying this about social media for years, but perhaps it’s time to remind employers that communication is communication, no matter how it’s transmitted. If you don’t want something to appear on the front page of the newspaper, or to be read in front of a judge or jury, don’t put it in writing. Don’t email it, don’t text it, don’t Facebook it, and don’t tweet it.

“I have a solution,” you say. “What about apps like Confide, which erases a text message as soon as the recipient reads it.”

While these apps seem like a perfect way to communicate under the radar, their use for business purposes gives me great pause. The intent of this class of apps is to delete communications. I could very easily see a court, confronted with evidence that people have this app on their iPhones and use it for business communications have willfully destroyed evidence. Spoliation and evidence destruction discovery sanctions would result. For this reason, I believe that company mobile-device policies should police the use of apps like Confide, Snapchat, and their message erasing ilk. And, while your reviewing your policies, mix in some training for your employees about the responsible use of electronic communications.

Jon Hyman is a partner in the Labor & Employment group of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.  For more information, contact Hyman at (216) 736-7226 or jth@kjk.com. Follow Hyman on Twitter at @jonhyman.

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NLRB: No Such Thing as an Online Picket Line

When is a picket line not a picket line? Apparently when the protests take place online, at least according to the National Labor Relations Board’s opinion in Amalgamated Transit Union, Local Union No. 1433 (NLRB 2/12/14) [pdf].

In the case, certain employees took to their union’s Facebook page to post threatening comments to co-workers who refused to participate in the union’s strike against their employer.

  • Prior to the strike starting, one of the posts threatened, “THINKING of crossing the line. THINK AGAIN!” Sixteen people commented on that post, included one that wrote, “If u cross … you will lose your eyesight … from the 2 black eyes.”
  • On the second day of the strike, another employee posted on the union’s Facebook page: “We found them!! We found out where they are housing the scabs.  We will be setting up lines at the hotel tomorrow.” Thirteen people comments on that post, including one that asked, “Can we bring the Molotov Cocktails this time?”

The employees argued that the union violated the National Labor Relations Act by not deleting or otherwise disavowing the statements posted on its Facebook page. The NLRB, however, disagreed:

Respondent’s Facebook page is in no way “an electronic extension” of its picket line…. A picket line serves a purpose quite distinct from that of the Facebook page. A picket line proclaims to the public, in a highly visible way, that the striking union has a dispute with the employer, and thus seeks to enlist the public in its effort to place economic pressure on the employer….

In contrast, Respondent’s Facebook page does not serve to communicate a message to the public. To the contrary, it is private….

Unlike a website in cyberspace, an actual picket line confronts employees reporting for work with a stark and unavoidable choice: To cross or not to cross. Should someone acting as a union’s agent make a threat while on the picket line, the coercive effect is immediate and unattenuated because it falls on the ears of an employee who, at that very moment, must make a decision concerning the exercise of his Section 7 rights…. 

This decision displays a fundamental misunderstanding about social media. Nothing about social media is private. It is public, interactive, and immediate. Even if the page on which the employees were posting was a “private” page or group, nothing stops employees from sharing the content via prints or screen caps. I am concerned that the agency that has taken such an active public stance regulating social media in the workplace appears to have such a fundamental misunderstanding about how this media operates.

Jon Hyman is a partner in the Labor & Employment group of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.  For more information, contact Hyman at (216) 736-7226 or jth@kjk.com. Follow Hyman on Twitter at @jonhyman.

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Can You Have a One-Person Reduction-in-Force?

Yesterday’s New York Daily News ran the following headline: “Long Island man, 76, sues company for age discrimination after ‘workforce reduction’ of one man.” The article suggests that there is something nefarious or underhanded about a layoff of one.

In reality, provided the layoff is bona fide, the number of people included is irrelevant. What is a bona fide layoff? According to one Ohio court:

In determining whether a valid work force reduction occurred, the key inquiry is whether or not the employer replaced the plaintiff. If an employer did not replace the plaintiff, but rather consolidated jobs in order to eliminate excess worker capacity, then a work force reduction took place.

In other words, it’s not a question of quantity, but one of quality. It does not make a difference if the layoff includes one employee or 100 employees, provided that those eliminated are not replaced.

This distinction is not one without a difference. Whether a job loss qualifies as a reduction-in-force matters. Workforce reductions require plaintiffs to come forward with additional evidence (direct, circumstantial, or statistical) to support an inference of age discrimination. Otherwise, the employer’s legitimate non-discriminatory reason (the economic necessity for the layoffs) will carry the day.

So, New York Daily News, I take issue with your headline. Yes, it is perfectly legal to have a one-person layoff, provided it is bona fide, and not a subterfuge to hire younger.

Jon Hyman is a partner in the Labor & Employment group of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.  For more information, contact Hyman at (216) 736-7226 or jth@kjk.com. Follow Hyman on Twitter at @jonhyman.

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A Proposed Solution for the EEOC’s Position on Retaliation in Severance Agreements

Yesterday I reported on a lawsuit the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed, claiming that some fairly generic terms in an employee severance agreement constitute illegal retaliation. In EEOC v. CVS, the agency claims an agreement that attempts to limit an employee’s communication with the EEOC unlawfully attempts to buy employee silence about potential violations of the law.

I try to shy away from hyperbole, but OH MY GOD, THIS CASE COULD BE RUINOUS!!!

When you compare the inoffensiveness of the provisions challenged in CVS to the hard-line position put forth by the EEOC, you begin to understand why this case has the potential to be most significant piece of litigation the EEOC has filed in recent memory.

Employers settle lawsuits and pay employees severance in exchange for certainty. Employers don’t write checks to litigants (or potential litigants) out of the goodness of their hearts. They do so because they want to get rid of claims and potential claims. The provisions with which the EEOC has taken issue — a general release, a covenant not to sue, cooperation, confidentiality, non-disparagement, and the payment of attorneys’ fees upon a breach — are crucial for employers. You’d be hard pressed to find an agreement that does not contain some combination of most, if not all, of these provisions.

Yes, the anti-retaliation provisions of the employment discrimination laws prohibit employers from requiring that employees give up their statutory rights to file discrimination charges, cooperate in investigations, or provide information to the EEOC. But, the CVS agreement that the EEOC is challenging did not contain those requirements.

Instead, the challenged agreement expressly protected the employees’ statutory rights:

Moreover, nothing is intended to or shall interfere with Employee’s right to participate in a proceeding with any appropriate federal, state, or local government agency enforcing discrimination laws, nor shall this Agreement prohibit Employee from cooperating with any such agency in its investigation. Employee shall not, however, be entitled to any relief, recovery, or monies in connection with any Released Claim brought against any of the Released Parties, regardless of who filed or initiated any such complaint, charge, or proceeding.

In re-reading the EEOC’s complaint, the agency seems to take issue with two key facets of the challenged agreement:

  1. The carve-out existed as a “single, qualifying sentence” in the “Covenant Not to Sue” section of the Agreement.
  2. The carve-out did not expressly touch all of the challenged provisions in the Agreement.

Don’t shred your settlement and severance agreements just yet. As a I promised yesterday, I have a potential solution. Modify your agreements to bolster and clarify the protected-activity carve-out. In a provision separate and distinct from the release, waiver, or covenant not to sue, consider something like the following (modeled on the provisions in CVS):

Nothing in this Agreement is intended to, or shall, interfere with Employee’s rights under federal, state, or local civil rights or employment discrimination laws (including, but not limited to, Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, GINA, USERRA, or their state or local counterparts) to file or otherwise institute a charge of discrimination, to participate in a proceeding with any appropriate federal, state, or local government agency enforcing discrimination laws, or to cooperate with any such agency in its investigation, none of which shall constitute a breach of the non-disparagement, confidentiality, or cooperation clauses of this Agreement. Employee shall not, however, be entitled to any relief, recovery, or monies in connection with any such brought against any of the Released Parties, regardless of who filed or initiated any such complaint, charge, or proceeding.

Given the EEOC’s position, prudence dictates the breadth of this carve-out, which is more expansive than what I traditionally use. The alternative, however, is to omit these provisions all together, and draft agreements that looks like a Swiss cheese of risk.

I cannot understate the potential significance of the EEOC’s position in CVS. This case bear monitoring, and I will continue to update you as the case proceeds. In the meantime, consider adopting changes to your stock separation and settlement agreements; the EEOC is definitely watching.

Jon Hyman is a partner in the Labor & Employment group of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.  For more information, contact Hyman at (216) 736-7226 or jth@kjk.com. Follow Hyman on Twitter at @jonhyman.

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Intuition and Decisions

tuition reimbursement

Workplaces are shifting from task-oriented environments to requiring more complex problem-solving. The way that business leaders made decisions in the past is no longer a guide to making future decisions; adopting a multifaceted approach that goes beyond traditional reasoning alone is fast becoming a crucial business practice. Such complexity allows for creativity and a focus on the role of human intuition in the workplace.

No doubt, data analysis and past results remain crucial to drive business decisions. Yet following gut instinct — even with all of its inherent risks — has pushed many an organization to success. Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates was quoted as saying that one often has to rely on intuition. Albert Einstein also was a believer: “The only real valuable thing is intuition,” he once said.

But cultivating and maintaining a work environment that encourages intuitive thought can be a challenge. In a competitive market, when attracting and retaining a quality workforce is necessary to achieve better business results, fostering an environment that leads to increased intuition is essential. Rather than overanalyzing data, which can lead to second-guessing, changing direction or bogging down a project, intuition can push decision-making. 

What Is Intuition?

An Intuitive List to Follow

The following simple behaviors have little financial risk but can foster a culture and workplace where intuition has greater value.

Culture:

1. Be open to ideas. Unleashing intuition begins by listening, but it also requires asking caring questions. Nothing kills morale and the creative process faster than when a new idea is shot down before any discussion occurs.

2. Recognize there are bad ideas.Being open to and encouraging new ideas doesn’t mean that every idea is a good one. Listen to your gut and weigh ideas carefully.

3. Allow for failure and don’t punish it. Recognize that new ideas are inherently risky and come with the prospect of failure. Don’t make a guaranteed win or a home run a prerequisite for implementing a new idea. Employees who fear being thrown under the bus if their idea fails will quickly shut down their intuitive creativity.

Workspace:

1. Think innovative, not only collaborative. Busy schedules leave workers with little time to focus, and that inability to concentrate leaves minimal time to innovate. Rebalance spaces equally for collaboration and innovation. Innovative moments typically happen in unexpected places rather than in conference rooms, workstations and offices.

2. Create intuitive spaces. Make serene, personal spaces that allow for individual thought. Create niches, play places and partially enclosed corners to encourage intuitive contemplation and interaction. These settings replace collaborative interaction time with a chance to explore fresh ideas in a meditative setting. 

3. Display ideas. Recognize the importance of intuitive thoughts by making them visual in workplaces. Utilize white boards, team electronic monitors and pin-up walls and watch intuition blossom into business results.

—Brady Mick

Intuition is a natural ability that makes it possible to know something without any proof or evidence. It’s also a feeling that guides a person to act a certain way without fully understanding why. But rather than the modern take that self-reflection does not accomplish results, intuition is the product of innate, internal filtering and not the result of external stimuli or data.

In business as in life, relying on intuition alone is not healthy. Yet, neither is a work culture or work process devoid of intuitive recognition.

As former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell noted in his book “My American Journey,” “Dig up all the information you can, then go with your instincts. We all have a certain intuition, and the older we get, the more we trust it. … I use my intellect to inform my instinct. Then I use my instinct to test all this data.”

Though intuition can be an important business tool, its real value is that it often leads to creativity, which in turn leads to innovation. Take Tesla Motors Inc. Although electric cars had not grasped a significant share of the auto market for a number of reasons, Tesla founder and serial entrepreneur Elon Musk took a gamble.

His company’s first electric car rolled off the assembly line in 2008. By 2012, with a deliberately planned slow rollout, there were several thousand Tesla Roadsters on the streets in more than 37 countries. By relying on intuitive insight — anticipating where the auto industry and the car-buying public were heading — Tesla executives’ hunches are paying off, as its stock was at about $175 in late January more than triple what it was trading at in the beginning of 2013.

In a 2010 study, IBM Corp. surveyed more than 1,500 CEOs from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide. When asked what they thought was the key to managing the complexities and sudden shifts in the economy, they said success will require creativity more than rigor, management discipline and even integrity.

The IBM report identified four key leadership behaviors:

• Altering the status quo. Leaders must be bold enough to make decisions that rock the boat.

• Embracing disruptive innovation. Long the playground of startups with little to lose, disruptive innovation — creating new markets by applying a different set of values — is an area where established organizations must learn to operate.

• Comfort with ambiguity. The marketplace distrusts ambiguity, but it is everywhere and must be accepted.

• Invention by creativity. The creative process of people working together to build new business models is based on the three I’s: intuition, ideas and insights.

History Lesson

Some companies and their leaders have embraced intuition throughout the organization’s history to improve their bottom line. One example is Cork Walgreen, who led national drug store chain Walgreen Co. from 1969 to 1998.

Before Walgreen assumed control of the Chicago-area company, the family-run business was already a leading innovator, opening numerous stores in the 1940s and jumping into television advertising when it still was a fledgling medium. The third-generation Walgreen leader followed the family’s tradition of taking risks; his innovation drove the business to new heights with unprecedented expansion across the country and a chainwide launch in the late 1980s of a computerized pharmacy system.

By the time Walgreen stepped down, the company had more than 2,200 stores, along with 23 consecutive years of record sales and six stock splits, increasing the company’s value from $164 million to $19 billion.

Walgreen’s decisions furthered a foundation of public trust that has allowed the pharmaceutical giant to reinvent its business model while remaining true to its core competencies. While customers can still fill prescriptions and buy a bandage, Walgreen was an early adopter of in-store health clinics. Some Walgreen stores now offer lunch counters and minigrocery stores that sell fresh fruit and vegetables alongside traditional health care goods and sundries.

Though the quest for short-term gains has removed the tolerance for risk in many businesses, rewarding the safe and the “same old, same old,” organizations can unleash the power of intuition with a revamp of corporate culture and workspace design.

Finding the Behavioral Traits of Intuitively Focused People

One way to transform teams for greater productivity, innovation and creativity is to select individuals who are highly intuitive. Since some people are more naturally intuitive than others, it is helpful to learn how to recognize the traits that intuitive individuals possess and then cultivate those behaviors in the workplace.

Some of these traits include:

• An openness to new ideas.

• Enthusiasm for the active creative process.

• Belief in a wide range of possibilities.

• Ability to express thoughts creatively.

• Often thinking with a counterintuitive vision.

• A mindset that is imaginative and visionary.

• Proactively seeking opportunities to advance the business.

—Brady Mick

Culture fosters intuitive behaviors, thoughts and feelings to become realized within the actions of work. The workplace is the stage where intuitive ideas are born, shared and molded into measurable and actionable creative solutions to complex problems.

Leaders can look for ways to encourage individuals to use their intuition to contribute to the success of the company.

In their book “Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of Imagination,” authors Jane Magruder Watkins, Bernard Mohr and Ralph Kelly talk about the benefits of constructing “possibility statements,” which they suggest bridge the best of what is with what might be. “It stretches the status quo, challenges common assumptions or routines and helps suggest real possibilities that represent desired possibilities for the organization and its people. … It is this collection of possibility statements that provide the clear direction for all the organization’s activities. Just as a stream always follows the call of the ocean, the organization will move forward toward its highest and most imaginative visions for the future.”

In a recent essay on LinkedIn, Jack Welch explained intuition this way: “Gut instinct is a deep, even subconscious familiarity — the voice inside you that tells you, ‘Go for it now’ or ‘No way — not ever.’ ”

Intuition can be a powerful business tool. Used in equal measure with intellect and emotion, intuition reveals opportunities and allows companies to prosper and mature even in the midst of a complex array of problems.

While data certainly serves its purpose, re-establishing intuitive nature is essential if the workforce is to be prepared to drive business into the complexity of the future. One thing is clear. The business world is in a renaissance, and intuition can help light the way.

Brady Mick is an architect, workplace strategist and client leader for Cincinnati-based BHDP Architecture. To comment, email editors@workforce.com. Follow Workforce on Twitter at @workforcenews.

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More Companies Offer Pet Insurance as an Employee Benefit

We love our pets. This year, it is estimated that we will spend more than $55 billion on them. More than $14 billion of that total will be for veterinary care alone. Vet bills are expensive, and often unplanned and unbudgeted. Given our emotional attachment to our pets, we pay them, regardless of the cost. To mitigate the unexpected nature of these costs, after losing our last dog we opted for vet insurance for our current one.

Corporate America is following suit by beginning to offer pet insurance as an employee benefit.

According to Yahoo, one out of every three of the Fortune 500, plus 3,400 other smaller companies, now offer pet insurance as a benefit to their employees. Ohio employers offering this benefit include Procter & Gamble, Cliffs Natural Resources, Quest Diagnostics, and Progressive Insurance.

Employee recruitment and retention is difficult. Companies struggle to locate, attract, and retain the best employees. Thinking outside the box with employee benefits is one way to attract, and keep, good employees.

Written by Jon Hyman, a partner in the Labor & Employment group of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz. For more information, contact Jon at (216) 736-7226 or jth@kjk.com. You can also follow Jon on Twitter @jonhyman.

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What Are Some Best Practices for Rewriting Job Descriptions?

Dear New Definitions:

Many healthcare organizations are in the same boat. New roles are being created to meet the emerging needs of the changing healthcare industry as traditional roles are also rapidly changing. For example, we’re finding that many hospitals are hiring for a CMO role, which was practically unheard of just a few years ago. Clearly, your organization is not alone in rewriting job descriptions as the industry charts new waters. Your existing job descriptions probably do not reflect current company strategy so you may, in fact, be hiring based on outdated or even obsolete job descriptions.

And that can form the basis for how you communicate this initiative to your employees without causing undue alarm. Consider positioning this effort as part of a continual improvement project: a yearly review and update of selected job-family descriptions to keep them fresh as a way to attract the best and most qualified candidates.

On the other hand, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that just as many employees welcome these changes rather than find them alarming. If your charter is to grow and/or make your business more efficient and profitable, you have to hire the right kind of talent. Accurate, engaging job descriptions are the foundation for hiring and managing the type of great talent that can make that happen. And your employees will appreciate working alongside colleagues who are competent, a good fit with the job and your organization. Well-written job descriptions can help you accomplish that.

As far as getting started, begin by creating a template so each description has the same format. Include specific sections to be completed such as job summary, responsibilities, qualifications, education and/or experience needed, travel requirements, level of decision making, level of managerial experience required. These last two areas are not typically included in most job descriptions but, when combined with the other information, will give a clearer picture. View a sample template here.

Then, gather specific feedback from people who are currently doing that particular job to ensure the job descriptions accurately reflects that position. Also seek input from managers who will be evaluating the position to make sure the requirements accurately reflect what they expect from the job. Oftentimes, there is a disconnect between the actual duties and the manager’s expectations of the role so now is the best time to align them so the role and accountabilities are in sync.

Updating and rewriting job descriptions can be time-consuming and cumbersome, but with advancements in cloud technology, streamlining the process (using, for example, Google Docs, a free Web-based document-management platform) is extremely beneficial. Follow a few simple steps:

  1. Upload current job descriptions stored in word or PDF documents to a Google Docs folder. Set the system to auto convert each to a Google Doc format.
  2. Share each job descriptions with the appropriate incumbent in the role and ask that person to review and edit for current relevancy
  3. Share each job descriptions with the appropriate supervisor to the role and ask that person to review and edit for current relevancy
  4. You now have legally compliant and updated job descriptions that are living documents you can access and update anytime as the roles and requirement change or annually if in growth mode.
  5. Optional: Conduct a conference call with the supervisor and incumbent in each role once steps 1-3 are done and review the final revised job descriptions with them to determine if there are any additional revisions needed or things to add based upon your expert input and questions.

A review of the completed templates to ensure well-defined and relevant information has been entered into each of the sections is the best evaluation of effectiveness and completion. Taking these steps will provide an effective job description that sets clear expectations and a shared understanding of the role for use in filling open positions, as well as employee development.

Source: Gayle A. Norton, talentRISE LLC, Chicago, June 15, 2013

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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LeBron James Seeks an Intern, So Here’s an Assist

“King” James has initiated a full-court press to score the perfect interns for spring, summer and fall. And I hope that, whoever basketball superstar LeBron James’ team chooses to take their talents to Team LeBron, the chosen ones will have the experience of a lifetime working for the “Chosen One.”

On a side note: When I mentioned this story to one of my colleagues, Frank Kalman, he told me that this is nothing new. “Michael Jordan had an intern, too,” he said, stopping for dramatic pause: “Scottie Pippen.” Funny, but not true. “Pip” was an integral part of the Dream Team for a reason; he was an amazing player. Although Dennis Rodman seemed to have his own intern—Jack Haley—but that’s another story.

As I’ve said before, I think internships are a great way for people to get on-the-job training and to learn about a certain industry. But I personally feel interns should be paid for their work like any other worker.

Does this particular internship pay anything? We’re not sure. An email to James’ website asking for clarification was not answered by the time this was posted. We hope it does pay, but if it doesn’t, here’s a reminder about the rules for unpaid internships. There are six main criteria for determining if an unpaid internship is OK. The one that always jumps out is this: “The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern.”

To me, being able to pay the bills with some income would be to the benefit of the intern …

But let’s get back to the topic at hand: choosing an intern to work for the Miami Heat superstar. And here are some of the job requirements from James’ website:

  • “Must currently attend college or a four-year university.” No doubt having college experience is important in today’s job market, but let me take you back to the 2003 NBA draft when a certain high school graduate became the No. 1 pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Methinks he has done pretty well for himself without having to endure even one college weed-out class.
  • “Candidates must be available at least 10 hours a week.” OK, that doesn’t sound unreasonable, but what does “at least” mean? Not 10? Not 11? Not 12? … Sounds like things could easily go into overtime on any given week, and shouldn’t school be the priority if you want people currently in school?
  • “Access to a computer & phone” and the “desired” qualification of “residing in Ohio, South Florida or New York.” Have you met a millennial in college who doesn’t have computer and phone access? I haven’t. And is this a telecommuting internship? If so, what’s with the location qualifiers? That said, I’m sure the good people of the Buckeye State are happy that James is still looking out for them.
  • “A writing sample (500-word minimum).” Really? My guess is James’ team is going to be flooded with résumés. Did they mean “maximum”? If not, expect multiple manifestos making their way to lebronjames.com.

Here’s hoping some hoop dreams come true for some lucky basketball fans, but success comes with a well-drawn-out play for the interns.

James Tehrani is Workforce’s copy desk chief. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com. Follow Tehrani on Twitter at @WorkforceJames.

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Companies Finding ‘Blended’ Recruitment Approach Is Splendid

While the U.S. economy continues its slow recovery, many employers are still uncertain about its future.

As a result, employers are still looking for ways to cut costs, according to a recent survey by the consultancy Aberdeen Group. One of the ways companies have started to save money is by integrating recruitment strategies with an approach labeled as a “blended workforce,” according to the study.

Historically, organizations have used separate outsourcing providers for traditional talent acquisition and contingent workforce supply-chain management. The blended approach, however, uses a single provider for both processes, according to the report. 

Employers cited reasons such as reducing costs, improving visibility to attract top talent and improving productivity for why they are developing blended workforce strategies. “If organizations have a clear view of their traditional employees and contingent and contractor workforce, they are better equipped to make leaner and smarter decisions around securing and retaining talent,” the report says.

The report, which can be read here, offers advice for employers hoping to develop a blended recruitment strategy:

  • Foster collaboration between key internal units. A blended workforce strategy needs a shared set of objectives between human resources, procurement and business leadership, as well as continuous communication between the three.
  • Define a formal strategy. Organizations should document existing processes and future goals based on the internal and external marketplace. A comprehensive plan will enable a company to design foundational practices in the context of long-term growth.
  • Invest in technology as a program enhancer. Forty-three percent of companies surveyed for the report said they are automating key processes in managing the blended workforce. Applicant tracking systems are used by 41 percent of companies to automate their key processes of their blended strategies. 

“The contingent workforce and traditional employees are both vital to an organization’s talent strategy,” says Teresa Creech, president, managed services providers and contingent workforce solutions, Randstad Sourceright, a global provider of human resources services. “An integrated approach to the blended workforce requires the insight and strategic perspective to facilitate change and drive results—and it requires an informed view of how companies are addressing the same opportunity in their organizations.”

Max Mihelich is Workforce’s editorial intern. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com. Follow Mihelich on Twitter at @workforcemax.

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Companies Struggle to Recruit Internationally

Last year, CH2M Hill, the Englewood, Colorado-based global engineering firm, hired 400 people in the Middle East alone.

The company has been steadily expanding its reach worldwide, and much of its growth is coming from emerging markets. The $6.4 billion global engineering company has more than 30,000 employees and has managed projects in 149 countries.

To meet growth goals, the talent management team has to be able to quickly source foreign employees. But it’s not easy, says Nicole Guiet, the company’s talent acquisition director.

Guiet oversees talent management efforts from Alaska to Argentina, and has found that each part of the world has its own recruiting culture. “There are labor shortages everywhere,” she says. “And the recruiting techniques that work in the U.S. don’t necessarily work around the globe.”

The disconnect between local and international recruiting techniques is making it difficult for many HR executives to keep up with their companies’ pressing need for global talent acquisition. And executives are getting frustrated.

According to a recent study by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of KPMG titled Rethinking Human Resources in a Changing World, 3 out of 4 executives say their workforce is becoming increasingly global, but just 1 in 4 believe their HR teams excel at sourcing and retaining international talent.

And while more than 80 percent of executives say that putting in place an effective talent management strategy is key to their success, just 24 percent believe their HR team is able to support their globalization strategy.

“Executives are beginning to realize that the only thing that can’t be cloned by the competition is a deep talent bench,” says Tim Payne, partner and European HR director for KPMG in London.

HR professionals have an important role to play in global talent acquisition, but they have to look beyond their tried-and-true local recruiting strategies to meet executive expectations. That means figuring out how to deal with the inconsistent education systems in many countries, along with limited talent pools, and fierce competition from global and local businesses for the best people.

And they need to recognize that they don’t understand everything about how the local hiring culture functions, Payne says. “One of the reasons why it is so difficult for HR to support global business units is that simple global policies don’t work.”

KPMG experienced this problem when it launched a KPMG center in India where there is a constant battle for the best talent. Relying on its London recruiting strategy, KPMG set up a two-day assessment center in Delhi, but applicants wouldn’t stick around.

“The process was too slow, and we lost good candidates to competitors,” Payne says. “When we started listening to local experts, we changed our process to be in line with local norms, and it instantly became more effective.”

Local experts are the best tool in this fight to improve global talent-acquisition strategies, Guiet adds.

At CH2M Hill, her team creates strategy reports for each country or region that define demographic information, including local hiring challenges, talent-pool availability, local and international competitors, common drivers to attract talent, and salary expectations.

Then they work with local recruiters to build a media plan that takes advantage of the best local recruiting strategies. “The key is admitting you don’t have all the answers and being willing to listen to those who do,” she says. “It’s about going slow now so you can go fast later.”

Sarah Fister Gale is a writer based in the Chicago area. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.