How “Flexible Work” Benefits Companies and Employees?

For years, “flexible work” was advantageous for freelancers, independent contractors, and part-time workers.  However, global events have altered the traditional business landscape and affected the way we work.  At the same time, this has given rise to more flexibility in work schedules, shortened work weeks, and work-from-home opportunities.  As a result, flexible work has proven to be beneficial to companies and their employees.  If you’ve thought about developing a more flexible work culture, here are 7 advantages or benefits that you’ll enjoy:

  • You’ll attract top talent – whether you’re hoping to build and develop efficient teams or hire the top experts in your industry, a flexible work environment just might be the ideal way to attract the top talent in your field.
  • You’ll boost productivity levels – flexible work can lead to increased productivity.  Although it may seem counterproductive, flexible work typically comes with better time management, fewer distractions, and a sharper focus on what needs to be done.  All of this equates to increased productivity.
  • You’ll improve employee engagement – engaged employees know the role they play in the companies they work for and understand their importance.  Creating a supportive working environment that empowers and respects its employees fosters a culture of engagement and teamwork.
  • You’ll improve your diversity – if you limit your candidate pool to only a couple of areas, you’ll only be able to access a small group of individuals.  When the target audience is this homogenous, the workforce is considerably less diverse. By going virtual, you can tap into a larger audience and enhance the target group.
  • You’ll increase employee retention – one of the perks that prospective employees look for in a company is flexible scheduling.  So, adopting flexible work could enable you to hire and retain the top talent you’re searching for. Considering the trying times, flexible working becomes important for the workforce.
  • Flexible work promotes better choices – in addition to saving on overhead, flexible work could have significant environmental benefits by supporting sustainability.  Flexible scheduling and hybrid or remote work equates to less commuting, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of a company and its employees.
  • Flexible work supports better mental health – the relevance of today’s average 9 to 5 workday is questionable at best because it can impact your employee’s well-being significantly.  With scheduling flexibility, stress levels have been greatly reduced overall.

If you’ve been searching for virtual and hybrid event software solutions, we can help.  At Premier Virtual, we specialize in virtual recruiting events for small businesses and large corporations.  To speak with a company representative and learn more about us, call us today at 561-717-9717.

Tech Tuesday: Top-10 Recruiting Trends in 2022!

Hiring Trends for 2022

While some recruiters have faced hiring freezes and work has slowed significantly, many are busier than ever as the economy rebounds, and unemployment hits a new record low.  We have not seen unemployment records this low since 1969.  While the data might not be 100% accurate, it reports a jobless rate of 4.2% in November 2021.  At the same time, there are 11 million job openings and Americans quitting their jobs at near-record rates, so what gives in 2022?  Here are the top 10 recruitment trends you should consider as you put together your 2022 hiring strategy plan.

  1. It’s a Labor Driven Market – The bottom line is that candidates now hold all of the power. There are more available jobs than candidates, and that crunch becomes even more significant when you drill down further to high-skill jobs.  Candidates are no longer jumping to that first open position or offer, but they are willing to jump much faster if they get a better offer or more flexibility with remote work.
  1. Improve the Quality of the Candidate Pool – Over 52% of recruiters polled said that improving the quality of hires is their most important goal in 2022. Achieving this goal is a slight shift from simply increasing the number of applicants in the talent pipeline to increasing the quality of that talent.  Typically, the better the talent, the better the fit, which leads to higher retention rates.  The goal is a better hire, with a higher likelihood of staying and producing at the new job over the long term.
  1. Balancing Talent Acquisition Technology with Traditional Methods– Amidst changes in the HR space and the disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic, technology has given birth to a new breed of recruiters. These technology-empowered headhunters are pro-active, savvy, and highly strategic in hunting down the right talent for the job.

Nowadays, recruiters use social media posts, web-based job boards, and online job portals to tout their company’s culture. However, some traditional recruiting methods continue to be effective today, such as referrals and job fairs. Yes, we’re now in an age where AI, augmented reality, and ATS machine learning rule. But finding the right balance between digital and traditional channels is key to accomplishing recruitment priorities such as improving quality of hire (52%) and time-to-hire (23%)  (HRD America, 2020, 2021).  Virtual hiring event platforms like www.PremierVirtual.com have dramatically improved candidate and recruiter experiences at virtual hiring events, resulting in better results in both of these metrics.

  1. Increased Outreach Through Social Media and Employee Referral Programs – Many companies have recognized that the opportunity to find the right candidate outside of the company is becoming more complex. Hiring for soft skills and training for hard skills means you can grow more people within your organization.  This strategy is being promoted in company social media networks and reinforced in their internal referral programs, making growth within the company take priority.
  1. Compete on Non-Traditional Benefits. There are too many jobs and not enough qualified candidates.  The competition for small business owners with giants like Facebook and Amazon only makes it more difficult.  Amazon alone was hiring a record-shattering 2,800 employees per day at the start of 2020, and that has only continued in 2021.  These large corporations immediately take top candidates, leaving smaller companies to pick from an even smaller pool.  You can’t compete on name and prestige, so you have to compete on flexibility and the ability to engage with employees on a more personal, one on one level.  Being smaller might mean employees have more responsibility and decision-making.  Make it clear from day 1, that performance is valued and there is a clear path to grow.  Foster opportunities for employees to provide ideas and give feedback.  Offer remote work and hire remotely whenever possible.  Today’s job seeker is looking for more than money.  They want to have a purpose at their job and understand their worth.  Smaller companies that focus on this will be able to provide that culture that will attract more candidates.
  1. Remote Recruiting will Continue to Grow – We see virtual hiring events platforms, like award-winning Premier Virtual, continue to be a vital asset in every company. This technology is not just for the large it becomes a way for smaller companies to compete for top-rated talent.  The trend to remote hiring, video interview, and virtual job fairs continues to grow.  61% of recruiters believe it will be the default interview and pre-screening mode moving forward.

While some platforms position themselves as ‘Virtual Hiring Event’ platforms, very few deliver on the key features recruiters are looking for.  Premier Virtual continues to stand out by providing hi-tech that is easy to use.  They continue to win awards at G2 and Capterra for their ease of use.  The platform accomplishes this in many ways, including its setup wizard, one-on-one chat and video interview technology, and easy-to-download post-event reports.  We also see companies using the Premier Virtual platform to host ‘Virtual Career Days’ and ‘Open Houses’ to meet and greet potential new hires without the pressure of scheduling interviews or hiring on the spot. It’s a great way to get your company in front of employed candidates who keep their options open and want to see what you have to offer without committing to an interview upfront.

  1. Attract, Hire and Retain! – Write these 3 pillars down (yes again!) and make a checklist under each one.  There should be a strategy in place so that each pillar of recruiting is sufficiently supported.  As we already mentioned, the workforce has always wanted a quality of life balance. Still, it has never been a better time than now to deliver! Your competitive advantage to attract more candidates can easily be to offer remote work where your competitor does not and offer health benefits that include mental health.  Times are complex, and the Pandemic has raised stress levels to new heights.  These two benefits in combination can be the difference between hiring or not.  Yes, wages and health benefits are always an essential part of hiring, but remote work and mental health continue to be the top reasons candidates state their decision to accept an offer or not.  The 48 hours after a hire is made are probably the most crucial.  Don’t let your new hire sit for hours in an empty cubicle.  Have a full-blown onboarding plan, throw a new hire party, give them the royal treatment and let everyone know about it after all isn’t this what you worked so hard for and invested so much in?
  1. AI is your Friend! There is no stopping tech, and the more you can embrace it and leverage it, the better you will be.  Ultimately nothing replaces a hiring manager’s understanding of the job at hand and their ability to spot talent beyond the resume but getting that right candidate in front of you is increasingly becoming the role of your tech tools.

AI is best for job candidate matching, candidate screening, and recommendation for job descriptions.  Now Smart ATS is increasingly being used to get suitable candidates in front of the recruiters.  The caveat is that these systems can also kick out plenty of qualified candidates, which is why hosting virtual job fairs is so essential.  Adding virtual to the AI means your company will continue to offer access to candidates that might not have reached your desk if you only used an ATS system.

  1. The Rise of Recruitment Marketing. With top graduates quickly getting gobbled up by the largest corporations, keeping your brand’ top of mind’ with passive job seekers is critical.  These employed job seekers casually look around, waiting for the right opportunity to come their way.  Using platforms like Premier Virtual to host and ‘Open House’ or ‘Career Day’ is a great way to offer this audience an opportunity to get to know you on a casual basis.  Customize your lobby with a booth for your Sales Department, Marketing Department, IT Department, etc., and give visitors an opportunity to get to know the culture and who they might be working with.  Provide them an opportunity to sign up for a ‘Company Culture’ newsletter that keeps you in touch with them, highlighting all of the great things your company offers and is accomplishing throughout the year.  You can build your relationship with this potential candidate until they decide it’s time to take the next step, and you’ll be their first option.  Make sure to share these experiences on social media, newsletters, and your website.  Share your culture as much as you can, and you will build genuine interest in your workplace.
  1. Retention, Retention, Retention. In the past, if an employee left, there might be another 100 ready to apply, but that is no longer the case.  While you should always do everything in your power to retain and cultivate the talent you have, you can no longer get away by ‘winging’ it.  If you don’t have fundamental procedures to engage and empower your people, it will likely result in higher turnover, and those losses take much longer to fill.  Your best bet is a phenomenal employee retention program, invest in your people, and the benefits will include lower turnover, higher referrals, and increased productivity – but you already knew that!!!

If you have other trends to share or are interested in integrating a virtual hiring event platform into your recruiting strategy, please contact us for a free demo.

Hire The Right Employees With a Virtual Hiring Platform

Today’s job market is an ever-changing, evolving, and rather difficult to navigate place for both employers and job seekers. Employers struggle to find reliable, qualified candidates, and for employees, finding an employer that is going to support them the right way is also a challenge. Creating that perfect match of a perfect employer and ideal employee is a challenge that has been at the forefront of the motivation that drives the team behind Virtual Premier. CEO Steven Edwards has worked in the job and career fair and event industry for over a decade, connecting companies with candidates, both in person and in the virtual space. 

Edwards successfully embarked on the path of entrepreneurship and business ownership himself over a decade ago and knows firsthand how vital having the right team is. Employees can make or break a business, as they are representatives of both the brand and the owner. These are trusted individuals who are there not only to better their own lives, but to help your company run efficiently, and thrive. Recruiting, hiring, and retaining the right employees, keeping them motivated to continue to work for your brand and organization, and moving the business forward starts with how accessible the job is, and how many qualified candidates one can reach. This means not simply throwing an ad up on online job boards. Career fairs have long been the best place to find a large pool of candidates and going online with that concept has only broadened the range of people an employer can connect with.  

A good hire can increase productivity, build a positive company culture, inspire innovation, and connect with the team that already exists. It is more than a process of simply looking over a resume or checking an online profile. Social skills, personality, and long-term goals and aspirations all play a part in who an employee is and how well they will serve your company. Happy employees drive revenue and can reduce operating costs, and are the lifeblood of driving your brand, reputation, and customer loyalty. On the opposite foot, the wrong candidate, or simply settling for the first person who seems like a fit can lead to a catastrophe down the line.  

There are some things that employers can do when looking for a new hire that can streamline the process and yield a higher number of well-rounded potential candidates. The first part of that is crafting a candidate-centered job description. This is not a one-sided process, and any prospective employee wants to know that they are a good fit as well and are getting involved with an organization that is aligned with their values, goals, and long-term career trajectory.  

Relying on free, local, and mass job sites is not going to yield the best candidates, so investigate hosting your own career fair or job event. With platforms like Premier Virtual, employers can create a customized event, with assessments, tasks, and pre-event vetting processes, ensuring that they find and meet with candidates that have true potential and fit what the company needs. Every candidate will have unique strengths they can contribute and get to know them properly during the hiring process fosters a better connection, and a happier workplace in the long term.  

Premier Virtual is the number one workforce development site in every state, dedicated to building the strongest connections between employers and top job candidates. As a veteran Edwards has long been dedicated to helping others and continues to do so through his company, “Our platform is opening up opportunities for people, those that might not have been able to apply for these jobs, people from all over the world, connecting companies with top-level talent. This is bettering people’s lives, every day.”

Connect on the company website, https://premiervirtual.com to learn more about how Premier Virtual leads the way in employee recruitment and hiring for companies large and small worldwide.

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