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As we ride out the first half of 2022, we find ourselves in a unique situation with large amounts of both unfilled jobs and unemployed workers. Volatile housing costs, sharp inflation, and the adjustment to a post-pandemic world are a few major reasons our employment market seems to be stuck in shuffle mode right now. The so-called “great resignation” of 2021 still has some business owners reeling to fill crucial roles, while in other places, workers are wondering where all these unfilled jobs are and how to find one.

One of the demographics hardest hit by this turmoil in our job market is Generation X. Many people in this group (very roughly defined as people from about 40 to 60 years old today) struggle to get re-hired when they attempt to change companies, careers, or cities. This ultimately hurts families, communities, and society at large, and it could also be hurting your business.

People over 40 often have social and practical skills underrepresented in today’s workforce, which sets them apart from millennial and Gen-Z coworkers. Unfortunately, many businesses are failing to tap into this source of employees due to a combination of narrow hiring philosophies, internal bias, and an undervaluation of certain “old school” skills.

While automated application systems are a great way to streamline your administrative processes, applicants over 40 can get overlooked due to resume filters that favor superficial tech buzzwords over broad hands-on experience (the sort of experience that can be adapted to a variety of jobs).

What’s Happening With Older Workers?

There is plenty of data to back up the unfortunate fact that older workers face bias and discrimination, even in this age of increased social consciousness and even at some of our nation’s largest and most iconic employers. As Kristin Alden, a labor law attorney in Washington, D.C., told an AARP reporter, “Age discrimination is so pervasive that people don’t even recognize it’s illegal.” SDS Project Managers frequently note that clients are never openly biased against female or minority candidates, but they have no issue saying that a candidate is too old. Few realize that candidates over 40 years of age are protected by Federal law.

Once workers reach a certain age, they may feel that their bosses are no longer willing to invest in their training or further their careers. And, if they need to change careers or move on to a new company, it can be nearly impossible to find a job that fits their experience and pay requirements. Older workers can be particularly susceptible to application burnout, the process of filling out dozens of job applications without receiving any callbacks or leads. These frustrated workers sometimes leave the workforce entirely, turning to self-employment or other alternatives.

Businesses predictably tighten their purses in an uncertain economy. For many, this means hiring younger, cheaper workers, or automating jobs wherever possible. Combine this with a steadily climbing retirement age (many Americans now consider 70 the default), and you can see the dangerous gap workers over 40 are falling into.

Where Are Workers Over 40 Succeeding?

One of the last bastions of consistent employment for people over 40 in the United States seems to be government work. In the general civilian workforce, about 54% of working people are over 40. Meanwhile, the federal government is 72% comprised of workers age 40 or over. This is according to a report from the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunities Commission).

Why is the federal government more interested in 40-and-over workers than the private sector? What do they see in this unique sector of the workforce that your business may be missing out on?

How Workers Over 40 Drive Your Business’s Success

While only one piece of the puzzle, hiring a staff that represents various age groups is a crucial aspect of diversity. This, in turn, is a key driver of company culture, employee satisfaction, and productivity. This seems obvious on the surface, but ageism is still sometimes glossed over or absent when it comes to workplace discussions and even professional seminars about diversity.

Consider some of the ways workers over 40 make your staff stronger:

• Gen-Xers possess social and interpersonal skills that millennial and Gen-Z workers have been known to struggle with. People over 40 often excel in front-line, customer-facing roles for this reason.
• Many Gen-X workers have solid tech fundamentals. These are not Baby Boomers who had little access to electronics growing up. Most Gen-Xers grew up on Nintendo and were teens or young adults when the internet became ubiquitous. The clunky nature of navigating early PCs means that people over 40 sometimes have even better tech intuition than a Gen-Z worker who grew up using apps with slick interfaces that require little troubleshooting or user setup.
• People over 40 are more likely to have family or other roots in the community. This makes them great customer liaisons when it’s time to represent your business out in the field and makes them less likely to move on to something new without notice.

The Over 40 Crowd: An Overlooked Source of Quality Employees

What can you do to combat ageism and leverage the over-40 workforce to diversify and improve your business? Start with a close review of both your official hiring practices and your internal biases. Using an scored hiring process like HireScore helps to minimize bias in your process while focusing on key attributes necessary to be successful on the job. Remember: a diverse set of skills, backgrounds, and personalities is a great way to ensure your business can adapt to any situation.

Are Paper Resumes a Relic of the Past? Fix Your Hiring Process by Embracing a More Convenient Future

“Digital transformation” is a powerful concept that has far more longevity than the average corporate buzzword. In fact, digital transformations have remained a key focus for successful companies over the long term. The limits of what can be accomplished digitally are constantly being pushed and expanded, and those who keep up are reaping the rewards.

On Digital Transformation

Unfortunately, many organizations are far behind the digital times in one key area—hiring. Meanwhile, some of the more effective digital transformations to hit the business world to date have occurred in hiring and recruiting. The most successful companies today use web forms and powerful automation to reach job seekers quickly, screen their qualifications, and have the best candidates funneled directly to their inboxes.

Why Are Paper Resumes a Thing of the Past?

While some business owners are experiencing stress due to perceived labor shortages, this moment could offer an opportunity to turn away from traditional “resume profile culture” and rethink hiring with a focus on skill-based assessments. These tests can be completed over the internet and measure an applicant’s ability far more accurately than a paper resume.

Create an Influx of Applicants by Enabling Digital Resumes

Today’s job-searching technology is powerful and fast-paced from the recruit’s perspective. Crucial roles can get filled in a matter of days or even hours. Waiting for paper resumes in the mail means being left behind in this worker-hungry job market.

Embracing digital resumes is one way to ensure you’re getting all you can from your recruitment efforts. Today’s prospective employees are just as in-tune with the digital revolution as employers. Job hunters are taking the opportunity to explore multiple digital avenues, including everything from uploading resumes in a digital format to creating their own websites with career and hiring information.

Leave Paper Resumes Behind

Key reasons to leave paper resumes in the twentieth century and consider supplying a digital resume option include:

• Increased efficiency. Today, people want to get things done quickly, from the convenience of their mobile devices and without unnecessary interactions. Make the application process straightforward to reel in more (and better) candidates.
• Flexibility/convenience. If someone can submit a job application any time, day or night, they’re more likely to take the leap than if they need to appear in person during your office hours.
• Improved productivity. Transitioning to automated hiring systems can mean a workload reduction for HR and administrative personnel. As a result, these professionals can expand their roles within your organization and support other projects.
• Preparation for the future. Let’s be realistic—the world won’t be transitioning back to paper-based systems any time soon. Get your hiring digitized now, and you’ll have one less thing to worry about moving forward—and fewer stacks of redundant resumes to toss.
• Testing and filtering. By using computerized systems to handle applications, you can quickly filter applicants by keyword. You can even set up skill assessments like our HireScore platform to evaluate competency as part of the application process.

Create an Influx of Applicants by Enabling Digital Resumes

Embracing digital resumes is one way to ensure you’re getting all you can from your recruitment efforts. Today’s prospective employees are just as in-tune with the digital revolution as employers. Job hunters are taking the opportunity to explore multiple digital avenues, including everything from uploading resumes in a digital format to creating their own websites with career and hiring information.

As we head into 2022 with high hopes for a profitable and successful new year, aspects of the job market in the United States remain unpredictable. Between the ongoing Covid situation, click-bait headlines, and an ever-evolving economy, it can be hard to understand what’s happening.

The reality is perhaps not as dramatic or scary as the popular phrase “The Great Resignation” makes it sound. Some people are indeed leaving the traditional workforce, but most are doing so for logical reasons. Meanwhile, businesses serious about maintaining their human capital can leverage systems that help find and land the right candidates – the kind of candidates who stick around.

What Is the Great Resignation?

Despite the media’s uncertainty, one thing about today’s job market is pretty clear. Americans are leaving jobs at an increased rate. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics marked the all-time high in resignations at 2.9% in August 2021, but that alone only gives a partial story.

The rate of quitting is not equal across all industries or types of positions. Almost 160,000 of the resignations came from the food services industry alone, according to a Reuters report. Many food service jobs require workers to spend long hours on their feet and interact with customers face to face. Teachers employed by state or local governments also saw a lot of resignations. Public school teachers in some areas have reported feeling vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic, so these resignations appear to be indicative of a specific concern rather than a culture of laziness.

Retirements vs. Resignations

Another aspect of the so-called Great Resignation that skews the numbers is early retirement. Many people are retiring earlier due to concerns about remaining in the workforce during a pandemic. A report from CNBC shows that around 3.2 million more baby boomers (folks aged 57 to 66 or thereabouts) dropped from the workforce July through September of 2021, as compared to that same period in 2020.

Technology Improves Hiring Practices

Several industries continue to expand despite resignations, and many are projected to see continued job market growth into 2022.

• Leisure and hospitality (including tourism, sports, travel, etc.)
• Professional and business services (many remote jobs.)
• Manufacturing.
• Transportation, warehousing, and logistics.

What Can Businesses Do?

For businesses looking to avoid frustration in an uncertain job market, leveraging powerful technology is key. Successful modern businesses stay lean by automating tasks at every step, not only in production but also in their internal HR processes. Many employers are fully online now when it comes to posting job openings and fishing for candidates, but the relationship between hiring and technology shouldn’t end with recruitment.

Stang Decision System’s HireScore Talent Portal is an example of a platform that allows hiring managers to compile, compare, and sort the best candidates for each position in the style of an easy-to-use spreadsheet. Data collected across multiple studies showed that using a custom validated employee selection system (versus processing applications manually or using obsolete systems) reduced turnover by 75% or more. In one example, Stang technology reduced annual turnover at a job site from 400% to 10%.

Technology can also be crucial for employee satisfaction, with many people today preferring remote or hybrid work. Robust systems to empower and track remote employees are key to success for such businesses.

Women who found their own companies have a harder time getting funding than men, but some women CEOs are changing the game. This observation is likely unsurprising to most women entrepreneurs, and the data is clear. Recent reporting revealed that investments for women-owned companies dropped 22% in 2020. However, certain organizations are getting ahead of the gap and making headway in the field of investments.

Better Outcomes for Women Entrepreneurs

Currently, these investments comprise a meager 2% of all venture funding, a low point women haven’t seen in over half a decade. That 2% figure reflects poorly upon the investment industry in general. However, it’s not consistent across all segments of the market. Village Capital, a firm headed by CEO Allie Burns, owns a portfolio consisting of a strong 46% women-owned or woman-led assets. At a recent conference panel, Burns noted, “We also are seeing a lot more diversity in terms of geography, race, [and] ethnicity in our portfolio.” The observation alludes to the idea that some of the issues at the core of the current slump go beyond gender—therefore, their solutions are also intersectional.

Burns went on to explain that new companies who complete Village Capital’s accelerator program are encouraged to take part in peer reviews. These reviews help companies compete among themselves to determine which are most deserving of investments. Burns affirmed that the peer review process has helped to flatten gender bias in their business model.

PiggyVest, a digital savings platform based out of Nigeria, was one of those companies. COO and co-founder Odunayo Eweniyi spoke highly of the accelerator program. The format was valuable, she thought, because “you’re asking questions about people’s businesses that you ordinarily wouldn’t ask.” This process creates a unique crowdsourced perspective on a business’s value. Eweniyi has since leveraged PiggyVest’s success to pay it forward and grant startup funds to several other women- and minority-led businesses.

Accelerators May Not Be the Magic Solution

Unfortunately, most accelerator programs don’t operate under Village Capital’s model. In fact, traditional accelerator programs have made the gender gap demonstrably worse. This is believed to be not only because of the investment industry’s well-documented sexist streak, but also because male investors tend to enter such programs at an advantage over their female counterparts. Men entering the world of business and investment tend to come to the table already in possession of more resources and connections than a woman in the same role.

Research shows that accelerator programs are not inherently good for women investors, or for democratizing investment in a wider sense. Somewhat shockingly, the same research indicated that traditional accelerators have no positive influence whatsoever on a female founder’s chances of raising equity for a startup. Contrast this with male founders completing accelerator programs, who were shown to raise as much as 2.6 times more equity compared to their female competitors.

What’s the Takeaway?

The currently widening investment gender gap isn’t going to be solved by accelerators alone. In their current format, accelerators are too susceptible to influence by resource-rich founders and only serve to make the gap worse. For an accelerator to have a chance at wide-ranging success for women, close attention must be paid to the format of the accelerator program and the criteria by which investment funds are disbursed.

Accelerators and other competitive programs that prioritize peer review and democratic models of allocating funds could indeed help narrow the gender gap, as well as the inequities faced by other minority founders. Robust loan and grant programs to allocate startup funds specifically to women- and minority-led businesses likely represent the best short-term solution for addressing the gender gap. Fortunately, there are a growing number of such opportunities available for both private and public funding.

According to recent statistics, more than half of employees are currently looking to change jobs, searching for a position they can see themselves occupying for the foreseeable future. As a result, now more than ever, employers are searching for ways to keep the effective employees they’ve hired over the years. Some are implementing every intervention they can think of to keep current employees loyal for another year, another month, or even another week. 

However, in our current state, employee retention and new recruiting are proving to be much more than a matter of increased wages. In fact, businesses are hanging signs advertising higher wages, signing bonuses and more, but don’t seem to be seeing the kind of results they are hoping for. Wages are certainly a crucial part of the puzzle, but one of the things that can be most powerful—and most valuable to an employee—is a sense of a long-term mission. Employees want a clearly defined place that their career is headed, backed by the knowledge that their labor isn’t going unnoticed (and unrewarded). This is something you can give your workers relatively inexpensively that can prove just as meaningful as a wage increase.

Building Transparency in the Workplace

Transparency regarding where your company—and, by extension, your employees—are going gives your workforce a solid idea regarding their own career trajectories. However, 43 percent of employees indicated feeling as if their careers have stalled, and 47 percent are looking for growth opportunities. Unfortunately, for many employees searching for something more, these growth opportunities may appear somewhere in an external job listing. However, opportunities for growth can be found internally if employers are able to take a moment of self-reflection and make these opportunities known.

The gap between what is available to an employee and what they think is available can only be bridged by communication. To know what the employee is looking for, what the next steps are, and what they need to feel comfortable, it is absolutely crucial for employers to listen with a keen ear and deep empathy. That initial seed of knowledge can be fed, giving you the eventual ability to ensure that each employee remains aware of internal opportunities that may fit what they are seeking.

Maintain Transparency with a Transparent Growth Plan

Once you know your employees’ needs and aims, you can take the first step towards fulfilling them with a transparent growth plan. HR teams can work with each individual to create a plan for their unique goals—which may not always align with the straightforward or traditional career advancement path you may have envisioned. However, by creating a clear, concise plan that is tailored to the individual, you can demonstrate how you plan to craft a path with a similar trajectory they can follow for years to come.

Keep in mind: it’s not enough to host the conversation once and put the plan—and the employee—back on the shelf. Instead, it’s necessary to revisit each growth plan regularly. Consistent updates give your employees a sense of exactly where they are on the path you have built together. Perhaps more importantly, it gives you both time to make changes and tune the plan in accordance with how your business and your employee have been progressing. 

Finally, no matter what their career trajectory or the path they’ve delineated, it is crucial to ensure that you celebrate your employees’ achievements along the way. Without consistent positive feedback, it is very hard for anyone to believe that their work is not only getting noticed but also being valued. Providing praise for good work can help close the communications gap, giving employees faith that they can trust in the plan and in their own opportunities for advancement. In the end, transparency and feedback are seeds for growth in the future.

It’s an understatement to say the labor market looks different in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. A staggering number of retail businesses are still struggling to fill vacant positions, with restaurants and other public-facing industries also feeling the crunch.

So how do you prevent your best employees from looking for that proverbial greener grass when the market is so full of unfilled jobs and flashy signing bonuses across a wide variety of industries? Somewhat surprisingly, it’s not always about the money.

There are many steps an employer can take to discourage turnover among key employees, or to win back an employee pursuing a job offer elsewhere. Focus on the following 5 key strategies to effectively retain employees in the face of a lopsided labor market (without blowing up your payroll).

1. Flexibility. The Covid-19 pandemic gave many workers their first taste of working from home, and they overwhelmingly approved. Over a third of employees in online surveys expressed a desire to work from home on a permanent basis. The most common reasons for supporting remote work were commute time, transportation cost, avoiding germs, and not needing to put on pants. (Yes, really.) While many business models simply cannot be sustained without employees showing up to work in brick-and-mortar locations, you can still compromise by offering flexible shifts, hybrid work plans, or even something as simple as a loosened dress code (though pants in the workplace are still recommended).
2. Opportunity. If you’re caught by surprise when a quality employee pursues work elsewhere, it may be worth reviewing their time at your company. Have they ever been sent to a professional conference or continuing education event? When’s the last time they were taught a new skill or walked through an unfamiliar aspect of your operation? Have they been encouraged to apply for internal promotions within the company? If you aren’t being proactive about giving your best employees opportunities to build a real career, it’s inevitable they’ll look elsewhere.
3. Input. Key employees should feel like they have a stake in your operation. Regularly ask them for feedback and input, especially on matters that affect their day-to-day tasks. Changes to company policy or procedures should never be made before discussions among all the stakeholders, and the employees doing the hands-on work should be on that list. Even when their ideas can’t be implemented, workers appreciate feeling heard.
4. Recognition. Speaking of appreciation, when’s the last time you’ve given your top employees special recognition? Be generous with your praise but make more tangible gestures as well. It doesn’t have to be as corny as an “employee of the week” wall, but it doesn’t always have to come in the form of expensive raises or bonuses either. Have a day each week where you order lunch for the office or get gift cards from other local businesses and hold weekly drawings for staff members who have gone above and beyond.
5. Money. Sometimes it really is about the money, especially when many qualified employees would rather tighten their belts or attempt a career change than do public-facing work during a global pandemic. With all the line items to consider in your business’s budget, it can be easy to forget that employee satisfaction is one of your most important investments. If you’re unable to retain good employees or keep crucial positions filled, it may be time to come up with better metrics to measure the value of what your employees are doing for your company. Then make sure their compensation packages reflect that appropriately.

When all else fails, simply ask a departing employee what you can do to keep them on board. This question alone goes a long way towards making an employee feel valued and provides a great starting place for amicable negotiations. Contact Stang Decision Systems for more info.

There are many common attributes that are often cited as positives when discussing a potential new hire. The skills often mentioned as positive traits include punctuality and enthusiasm. While getting work done in a timely manner and being enthusiastic about one’s job certainly help a company function in an efficient manner, they are not the only aspects that should be looked at when seeking out an employee who will last a long time at a company. 

Sometimes, other more subtle qualities are overlooked in the hiring process, often to the detriment of a company or business. When hiring a new employee, it is important not to forget to look for the four qualities mentioned below. 

1. Compassion
   Compassion is a quality that is hard to quantify but can make all the difference when your employees must deal with colleagues and clients from all different cultures and walks of life. An employee who is able to put their mindset in the shoes of someone very different from themselves, with different values and customs, can lead to positive additions to teams and have the ability to attract new customers. In the hiring process, looking for individuals who volunteer in places such as animal shelters or other charitable causes may mean that their kind nature will translate well to the workplace.
2. Has Flaws
   Many employers view perceived flaws in a candidate’s resume or past work experience as red flags, but this often can be furthest from the truth when getting a full picture of a potential employee and their ability to do an exemplary job. An example of this might be a gap in a person’s work history. This is often seen as a negative, but when taking a closer look, this can actually be a sign of positive character traits. Gaps in work history may be present because a worker has had to take time off to care for a sick relative. Or perhaps they supported a partner who was working, making one’s employment a team effort.

   A perfect job candidate on paper is often too good to be true, and just because a person has gone through all the proper steps in their life doesn’t necessarily mean that they have the problem-solving or real-world skills to excel at a job without having experienced hardships and overcome them.

3. Openly Discusses Mental Health
   Unfortunately, there is still much stigma around mental health. It is often seen as a strength to keep hidden mental illness struggles. However, those individuals who are honest about their own challenges with staying positive mentally, and how they cope, often translate to stronger, more reflective employees. These employees often show more creativity and are likely to have sympathy and be supportive of colleagues if or when they experience similar issues. Successfully navigating a team through employee’s inevitable hardships fosters a work environment where everyone feels safe, and therefore productive.
4. Enjoys a Wide Array of Television Shows and Movies
   Popular culture is not just entertainment, but reflects the values, hopes, fears, and dreams of a society. An employee that explores different stories can relate to both colleagues and clients in a personal and supportive manner.

If you have a position that needs to be filled and are looking to hire a quality employee, let Stang Decision Systems help you find an employee who will be the perfect fit. Contact us today!

Sources:

https://hbr.org/2020/11/talking-about-mental-health-with-your-employees-without-overstepping

http://www.theinclusionsolution.me/a-point-of-view-pop-culture-at-work/

When you’re hiring, it can be tedious to sort through the stacks of applications that come in for the job. Even more challenging is the task of pinpointing the intangible skills that aren’t easy to quantify on a standard resume. While these intangibles, also known as “soft skills,” might not seem relevant on the surface, qualities like kindness, integrity, work ethic, and more can indirectly support a healthy, high functioning work environment.

Creativity is a prime example. In fact, in many industries, it can be more beneficial to hire an individual with creative skills and limited direct experience than to hire someone with a great deal of industry knowledge but no creative background. Before you begin reviewing your next crop of candidates, consider the following benefits of creative employees in the workplace.

1. Creatives Can Create New Solutions To Old Problems
   
   Every industry has its common roadblocks. Sometimes, no matter how many meetings you have or emails you send, it’s difficult to land on an appealing solution. When a problem has been impeding your workflow for an extended period of time, it’s clearly become too complex to solve in the usual way. Creative problem solving is a sought after quality for this reason—creative individuals think differently than those accustomed to other industries. Many times, employees with a creative background are able to see an old issue in a new light and can help you to uncover a unique solution that works for everyone. 
2. Creative People Are Adaptable
   Many creative projects rely upon workshopping, editing, or altering an idea after feedback is given. This capability is highly transferable to your workplace. Your creative employees will likely handle criticism or notes fairly well and know how to adapt to better suit the specific role you hired them to fill.

3. Persuasion Is Inherent in Creativity
   The basis of creativity is presenting ideas in a way that people will respond to positively. This means that creative employees are often adept at translating those skills into meetings and presentations for your colleagues, clients, and other stakeholders. The innate ability to portray information in a digestible, clear way is key to any business and shouldn’t be overlooked.

4. Creative People Seek Opportunity 
   In the same vein as creative problem solving, creative people know what to look for in new business and relationship opportunities. If you are looking to expand into a new market, connect with clients in a unique way, or develop a new product, a creative employee will be your best resource. Creativity is all about connection, so don’t overlook this skill in the workplace.

5. Creativity Is Tied to Learning
   Most creative people crave knowledge, understanding, and new perspectives. What does this mean for you? You’ll have an enthusiastic employee who truly wants to learn and grow. That spells benefits for your business no matter your industry.

6. Creativity Is Undervalued
   Unfortunately, many industries don’t place enough value on creativity—and some even look down on applicants with creative backgrounds. However, breaking with this line of thinking and considering applicants with creative backgrounds or those with creative skills will give you an edge over your competitors. No matter your industry, having creative employees on your side will help you to stand out to customers and heighten your appeal.

The increasing demands of recruitment mean that you have a great deal to consider when it comes to selecting your future employees. Keeping your mind open to creative employees can help you to diversify your team’s talent and broaden your horizons for growth and business to business connection.

Here at Stang Decision Systems, we are passionate about helping you hire the right employees for your business. To learn more about how the HireScore assessment platform can help you identify creative employees with skills relevant to your business, contact us today.