Yoh magazine october14

15 QUESTIONS FOR 2015: HOW TO DEVELOP A WORKFORCE STRATEGY THAT WORKS DON’T FEAR THE RPO REAPER

GUT CHECK TIME:

THE ROLE OF RPO IN MEETING YEAR-END GOALS AND EXECUTING FOR THE FUTURE

© 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

click to read

p. 1

WHAT’S INSIDE 03 Gut Check Time: The Role in

Meeting Year-End Goals and Executing for the Future

09 15 Questions for 2015: How to Develop a Workforce Strategy That Works

13 Don’t Fear the RPO Reaper

GUT CHECK TIME:

THE ROLE OF RPO IN MEETING YEAR-END GOALS AND EXECUTING FOR THE FUTURE

It’s the most urgent time of the year. As enterprises roll into Q4, recruitment and staffing professionals are challenged to meet 2014 goals and to lay out budgets and projections for the new year. A real gut check to be sure. But take a deep breath. It all can be managed with some reflection and a game plan for what needs to be accomplished.

In many ways 2014 will go down in business history as the ultimate tale of two economies. Listen to some pundits and it was the year the American economy roared back, overcame its losses from the great crash of 2008, and scored record earnings and stock valuations.

Listen to the bears and you hear an entirely different story. While some sectors of the economy are doing well, they say, employment advanced in fits and starts with a deceptive unemployment rate of 6.1 percent as of August . They argue it’s an illusion made artificially low by the number of job seekers who have simply dropped out of the market. To them, the © 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 3

big stock advances seen in the last six months rank as an anomaly, made possible by an uncertain world where American stocks are the only prized asset class.

The truth stands somewhere in the middle, which makes your 2014 review all the more difficult, and keeps 2015 goals shrouded in uncertainty.

Consequently, the time is now to review, analyze, respond, and react. With three months left, it’s not too late to meet 2014 corporate expectations, all while shoring up personal bonuses and incentives.

What are the key gut check items you need to review, evaluate, and manage? Fear not. With a mindful approach and a deeper understanding of the power and potential of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), you stand a good shot at making 2014 a rewarding one, and 2015 the most profitable year yet for your organization and your career.

Š 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

Gut check #1: Did you meet your 2014 hiring goals?

While corporate earnings climbed to an all-time high, 2014 proved to be a difficult year for staffing professionals. After six years of an incessant recession that stripped away the infrastructure of many corporate staffing departments, talent acquisition and recruitment professionals are being called to do more with less, and sometimes with very little at all.

Gone are the days of large in-house recruitment teams.

They were lost along with the irrational exuberance of the bubble. That’s fine when hiring is dead in the water.

But 2014 showed life, with a falling unemployment rate, more turnover, and increasing talk of a skills gap.

But what if the 4.7 million available jobs and 9.6 million Americans still looking for work point not to a skills gap, but a hiring gap? As staffing infrastructure ages and recruitment teams go understaffed, many internal hiring campaigns fell short of their 2014 objectives.

If you’re running behind, now’s the time to consider the short-term advantages of RPO. “RPO providers can engage immediately,” said Andy Roane, Vice President

© 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

of RPO at Yoh. “The entire business model is built to manage a constant flow of candidates through the employment pipeline. Even in the last quarter of the year, RPO providers can swarm in to immediately start surfacing candidates, even for highly skilled, hard-to-fill positions.”

Gut check #2: Understanding 2014 changes in business conditions.

Return to the master plan. What were the hiring goals and objectives for 2014? Dollars to donuts, they changed dramatically as the economy strengthened for some and languished for others.

The reality of your present business conditions could diverge greatly from what was set out in Q1 2014.

You need to understand that impact and be able to communicate it throughout your organization. But ultimately you will be judged not on the changes that presented themselves, but how you responded to those changes in order to fulfill corporate growth objectives.

p. 5

Did you respond? Did you react? Did you outsource the right processes? If not, it’s still not too late. RPO represents a sensible option in a changing environment. At the same time, it provides the accountability needed when end of year reviews take place. Staffing professionals get credit when they foresee impending disaster and change strategy on the fly. By outsourcing accountability, and to some degree culpability, staffing professionals can demonstrate a flexibility of approach prized by organizations during uncertain times.

Gut check #3: Managing the cascade effect.

It seems to happen all at once: A dormant economy awakens.

What was the demand for 10 employees in one month becomes 20 the next. Fall behind in May, and you’ll never catch up in June. The compounding effect is great. Miss 50 percent of your hiring target in a 30-day cycle, and it could become 500 percent over 120 days.

RPO providers feel your pain. They’re often called in not just to unlock efficiencies, but also to overcome the cascading effect of a strengthening economy. That scalability is baked into the process and remains an important consideration in organizations made lean by the recession and budget cuts.

© 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 6

“Whether you need three or 300 employees by year-end, RPO providers can expand or contract as needed to meet corporate growth objectives,” said Roane. “Without staffing professionals in place, most companies simply can’t jump high enough to meet rising standards.”

RPO provides a means to manage expectations amidst the chaos brought on by M&A activity and as such may very well be part of your year-end strategy.

Gut check #4: The lingering effects of mergers and acquisitions.

Unable to find organic opportunities to expand growth and revenue, and with treasuries stuffed with cash, American corporations are on an acquisition binge.

Think back to the bubble, when finding quality people was the rallying cry for many businesses. In that environment, enterprises were more than willing to invest, and invest mightily, in the technological and human infrastructure needed to source, attract, onboard, train, and support new employees.

As of June 26, year-to-date global deal volume increased 75 percent over the same period last year, reaching its highest level in seven years. Was your organization among them? How has that affected your staffing demands? Did it add to your staffing and recruitment talent pool? Or just increase workload on an already overtasked workforce? Did it add offboarding to your responsibilities?

When the recession hit, progressive ideas disappeared.

Hiring infrastructure aged, requiring huge investments in people and technology that many companies are still not confident enough to shoulder. What is the current status of your hiring infrastructure? Does a projected investment equal 2015 demands? And is the corporation willing to invest in that infrastructure over other projects perceived as more urgent?

Now’s the time to evaluate the impact of unexpected M&A activity, and how it might have slowed or obstructed broader corporate goals and objectives.

RPO presents a logical way to sidestep the internal costs of updating technology and human capitalrich employment infrastructures. Outsourcing costs

© 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

Gut check #5: Test your hiring infrastructure.

W h e n t h e re c e s s i o n h i t , progressive ideas disappeared.

Hiring infrastructure aged, requiring huge investments in people and technology that many companies are still not confident enough to shoulder.

p. 7

could be your best internal argument for moving to RPO now in advance of new 2015 hiring objectives, updating the costs of employment infrastructure improvement.

For many staffing professionals, Q4 represents a last gasp moment to simultaneously meet 2014 objectives while smartly planning for 2015’s expected and unforeseen opportunities. It’s a gut check, which happens every year, but made much more urgent in 2014 with an inconsistent, lumpy recovery, continued uncertainty, and the need to quickly capitalize on an awakening economy. Now more than ever, RPO is providing a smart strategy to ensure a tumultuous year ends right on target with your corporate goals.

Š 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 8

A NEW YEAR IS BORN Š 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 9

15 QUESTIONS FOR 2015: HOW TO DEVELOP A WORKFORCE STRATEGY THAT WORKS

Right now 2015 is a big question mark for every company.

But despite the uncertainty every new year brings, the organizations willing to prepare for the challenges they’ll face in the coming year—by reviewing the lessons of 2014, assessing current workforce needs, and anticipating demands—are the ones that will most nimbly navigate obstacles when they appear.

Here are 15 questions you should ask yourself to help dig to the heart of your strategic goals and ensure a successful 2015 from the star t.

1. What did 2014 look like for your organization? Review the past nine months for a better understanding of where you stand headed into 2015. Did you grow or see demand wane? Add headcount or contract? If © 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 10

you saw growth, how can you accelerate that upward trend? If you didn’t, how can you right the ship?

2. Does your strategic plan match the current reality of your organization? Take a pragmatic look at your organization and goals. Does your workforce planning align with current and projected business demand? Or are those goals out of sync with where you’re ending 2014?

3. What 2015 events could affect your strategic plan? Consider scenarios in your control, such as a new product launch or planned M&A, as well as events outside your control, such as new legislation or a surging competitor. How would you approach these events?

4. How will the broader economy affect your organization? The U.S. economy is expected to grow about 3 percent in 2015, slower than some earlier forecasts. How will your business fare if demand slows over the next 12 months? If it escalates instead?

5. How did 2014 change your hiring goals for 2015? Are you behind in hiring, struggling to find qualified candidates? Did you experience high turnover in 2014? Now’s the time to take a hard look at how to © 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 11

get back on track or move full steam ahead if your plan has been working. Tapping an outsourced staffing solutions partner is one way to get a fresh perspective on your current recruitment process and how you might improve it in 2015, whether it’s been working or not.

6. What will be the biggest obstacles to meeting your goals? High turnover, a shortage of skilled workers, and a complicated hiring process cause headaches for hiring managers. Anticipate your challenges or there’s a greater chance you’ll miss or delay your goals.

7. What budget flexibility do you have?

Is your budget set to increase in 2015 or remain flat? HR departments are used to doing more with less, but knowing how far you can stretch your resources will impact everything from hiring to employee engagement. If maintaining an in-house recruitment team isn’t economically feasible, look to recruitment vendors and outsourcing the process to meet demands without going over budget.

© 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

8. What are you doing to engage employees and keep talent in house?

Wages are expected to remain flat in 2015, and a more stable economy might goad some workers to jump ship. Review your current company culture and employee engagement initiatives, from continuing education to opportunities for career advancement, to create an environment mutually beneficial for employees and your organization.

9. What skills gaps exist in your organization? Review the positions that have been toughest to fill. Can current workers be trained in the needed skills? If not, what new strategies could you try to ensure your workforce is prepared to address your organization’s needs? Have you considered outsourcing the recruitment process?

High turnover, a shortage of sk illed workers, and a complicated hiring process cause headaches for hiring managers. Anticipate your challenges or there’s a greater chance you’ll miss or delay your goals.

10. What talent will your organization need to reach the next level of your strategic plan? Do you need to expand your sales force? Hire more engineers? Quickly add dozens of new workers to accelerate a key project?

Your company should already be seeking out these new employees if you’ll need them in 2015.

p. 12

11. Where will you find the talent you need?

If you’re still relying on job ads, it’s time to rethink your strategy. If you aren’t already developing and nurturing talent pools for the positions you anticipate you’ll need, get started. One way is to outsource the recruitment process to a firm with a proven track record of successfully and efficiently sourcing skilled workers.

12. W hat role can recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) play in fulfilling your goals? Most organizations can benefit from an RPO provider, which can tap a pre-established pipeline of qualified workers based on your open positions and future needs, increasing the speed, efficiency, and effectiveness of your hiring practice. RPO is also highly scalable, able to meet shifting needs as 2015 progresses.

13. How prepared is your organization for growth?

Are there steps in place—project teams, established strategies, expansion plans, and budgets—that you can deploy right away if your growth accelerates? How will you respond if you suddenly need a dozen more employees?

14. H ow will you measure and assess your success in 2015? Maintain an understanding of © 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 13

your goals and how they’re progressing to better train and plan your workforce. Establish key measures of performance, including the ratio of qualified candidates to applicants, time to hire, and employee referrals, to track success or redirect efforts as the year goes on. Outsourcing certain recruitment tasks to a partner can better ensure you’ll stay on track with the goals you outline at the beginning of the year.

15. What can you be doing now to ensure 2015 starts off on the right foot?

Examine your 2014 accomplishments, compare them to current objectives, and start planning how to close the gap between the two. You have a number of tools at your disposal, from in-house talent to RPO experts, but your success depends on your plan for the future.

© 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 14

DEAD IN THE WATER Š 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 15

DON’T FEAR THE RPO REAPER Three letters once struck fear into the heart of many HR departments: RPO. HR professionals bought into old myths that recruitment process outsourcing was a threat to their very livelihood. By tapping an outside firm to handle sourcing, hiring, and onboarding employees, HR worried it’d be penalized for outsourcing part of its responsibilities.

This fear existed before the recession decimated HR departments. Organizations were forced to carry on without the support of in-house recruiters as business faltered and hiring plummeted. And while HR is always the first to see cuts, it’s the last to feel any recovery when it arrives. HR departments remain lean today, as HR professionals are tasked with more strategic roles within their organization.

In this new environment, RPO has grown in importance and acceptance. But if the idea of working with an RPO provider still leaves you anxious, fear not. RPO is a strategic addition to your team that can help you © 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 16

achieve HR goals more quickly and effectively moving forward. Here’s how.

The new face of HR According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), median HR staff remained steady from 2009 through 2012. The HR professionals that remain have been tasked with guiding employee engagement, workforce planning, and cost-cutting.

Often there’s not enough time to focus on these tasks while also sourcing, recruiting, and hiring new employees. With these new imperatives, RPO becomes an ally, not an adversary.

Rather than take bread from HR’s mouth, RPO can streamline and improve the hiring process, dissecting the parts that work and the parts that don’t to accelerate hiring while finding better candidates.

Foregoing RPO in this new environment could be costing you efficiencies that will find you the talent you need more quickly.

© 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

p. 17

Building a better workforce plan The greatest risk in a recovering economy is failing to move quickly enough to capitalize on new opportunities. There are more job openings in the U.S. right now than we’ve seen in more than a decade: 4.7 million. The organizations that can fill those positions now can better take advantage of an economy showing signs of life.

RPO offers an accelerated route from sourcing to onboarding, proving the talent you need when you need it. As HR sets out on new strategic objectives, RPO provides added flexibility and scalability to grow or shrink its campaign on the fly, as needs dictate.

That allows more flexibility than keeping recruiters in house. A jump in the need for hires can overwhelm a small team, while a company still waiting for growth can’t sustain a large team of in-house recruiters. RPO grows or shrinks according to demand.

While in the past RPO might have improved the process of in-house recruiters, today those recruiters no longer exist. The lean and agile approach to HR many companies have settled for makes RPO an

© 2014 Yoh Services LLC | A Day & Zimmermann Company

essential partner to ensuring you have the recruiting muscle needed to pull your organization back to its feet as demand heats up.

A new partnership in a shifting economy From foes to friends, RPO and HR can be a strong team that leads their organization through economic recovery and growth. As an RPO provider develops a pipeline of talent, HR can focus on higher-level tasks, like championing a workforce plan and working to engage the top talent within the organization.

While RPO was once perceived as a mortal enemy to HR, the recession turned that notion on its head. HR can no longer afford to fear RPO given the lean HR staffs many organizations maintain. HR can’t do it all, and for an organization to succeed, the in-house members of the HR team will have to take a more strategic role in the company’s future, leaving tactical and time consuming recruitment to experts like RPO providers, who now more than ever represent a true partner for HR.

p. 18

YOU NEED IT. WE HAVE IT.

Yoh is here. Yoh is there. Yoh is virtually everywhere. All in and busy going all out, doing everything it takes to take you where you want to go – forward. How? By foregoing the talent pool in favor of our own sea of talent, helping you find just the right person for the job or just the career you’ve been searching for.