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Hiring is critical to your success, but it's time-consuming and takes you away from running your business. There are ways you can save time and hire talented people for your open positions. A recruiting partner can save you in so many ways, including financially. Are you curious about how an agency can streamline your hiring process? 

Help You Optimize Your Job Description

Job descriptions, like any other online content, need to be optimized to be seen by as many people as possible. These principles of search engine optimization are part of a complex science, and there's no reason for you to learn something new to post a single job. Your recruiting partner can help you with this process. They understand the intricacies of SEO and how to create a job posting that the best candidates will see.

Use Smart Recruiting Techniques

Data-driven recruitment means you understand the cost-benefit analysis of every new hire before making a decision. Your recruiter can help you better understand many metrics involved in the recruitment process to ensure you're making the best decision possible with the information you have.

Pre-Screen All Candidates

When you don't have all the time to devote to hiring, pre-screening can feel like an unnecessary addition to the process. But it can be the best way to gather important information before moving to the next steps. A recruiting agency can do this at scale and only send you the best candidates for consideration.

Use Assessment Tools

An agency can also provide assessment tools to help determine a candidate's proficiency in various skills. Whatever skills are determined to be the most appropriate for the job, you don't have to take the candidate's word on the matter. Your recruitment partner may be able to provide assessment tools to get a better feel for someone's skills before they interview.

Support Onboarding

Your recruiter relationship doesn't end when an offer is extended. Recruiters will help with onboarding to ensure your new employee is prepared and ready to start their new career with your organization. They can also be a resource in the future should you have any questions or concerns.

itec group can give you the answers you need. Get in touch with our team!

The idea of the skills gap has been around for a long time. Much like our business world, the skills gap itself is evolving. The missing puzzle piece in many of today's jobs is knowledge of technological advancements that will become increasingly important to business success. So how do you close the skills gap in your company? Let's take a closer look.

Upskilling

It's always more complicated to replace employees than to keep the team you have. If you upskill, you show your team that you're willing to invest in their future. What skills are you missing, and who on your roster has the interest and ability to learn them? Offer upskilling for things that will benefit you as well as your employees.

Generation Z

Companies that embrace every generation are better at disseminating knowledge and up-to-date skills. Younger employees, especially in up-and-coming Generation Z, will bring new skills. These are things that your team can benefit from. At the same time, your younger employees will learn the company culture and professional etiquette from your older employees.

Retired Workers

Throughout 2020, many older workers who were looking forward to retirement decided to stick around a little longer. That's led to more people retiring this year and in the foreseeable future. But boomers are not a generation that likes to sit around. Reengaging them by offering part-time or flexible roles can help you maintain their knowledge base and pass it on to incoming team members.

Recruiting Partner

You don't have to do your hiring alone. Recruiters can help you uncover new talent who will bring additional skills. They can work with you to determine the best fit and will spend less time sourcing and screening candidates than it would take you. They'll tap into a much broader applicant pool and provide you with qualified candidates.

If you're struggling to close your business's skills gap on your own, let the itec team help!

Social media is not a fad. We live in a world where everything worth mentioning ends up online one way or another. And once something's online, there's no going back. But what does that mean for your employees and creating social media policies? If you've been thinking of developing guidelines to help your team and represent your company well, here are the top tips to get you started.  

Create and Enforce Official Accounts 

Your business should have official social media pages on all the major platforms. Keeping these owned by your company prevents someone from creating an account that unfairly targets your business. Maintain ownership, make branding consistent, and have someone within your organization responsible for posting and commenting on these pages.  

Request Transparency  

Your team is online; that's just a fact of business today. What's important is that you create a culture of trust. What you can ask your team is that if they include their place of employment on their social media, they make sure people know the opinions posted on their social media are personal and not representative of your organization.  

Ensure Privacy  

While you need to trust your employees to use sound professional judgment online, you can create policies around what they can and can't share. It's vital to let everyone know confidential client or company information not be shared online. This needs to be a formal policy; if it's violated, there are professional consequences.  

Train on Cyber Safety 

It's also critical that your team is safe online. There are constant threats to safety on the internet, and many of them can look very legitimate. Offer regular training to reinforce safety guidelines. These include:  

• Creating strong passwords 
• Two-factor authentication 
• Limiting personal information online 
• Using secure internet connections 
• Spotting and avoiding phishing 
• Not clicking on suspicious links or downloading unknown files 

Be Tough on Harassment 

Cyberbullying isn't just something teenagers do. Harassment online is all too common, and you must have a no-tolerance culture in your workplace. There is no room for hate speech or other forms of harassment. You should also provide resources for your employees if they experience harassment online.  

Follow Legal Guidelines 

There can also be a lot of legal traps online that people get caught in unwittingly. Always remind your employees to respect intellectual property, copyright, trademarks, and other laws regarding content and creations. Make sure they know if they don't have explicit permission or licensing to post something, they need to avoid it.  

Let the staffing experts at itec group weigh in.   

Relying on your team of loyal employees is what makes your business succeed. Loyalty is a two-way street, so what can you do as an employer to improve team loyalty? Here are five ways to create a culture that encourages team loyalty now and in the future.

Focus on Culture

Good company culture can improve employee loyalty by creating a positive and supportive work environment. When employees feel valued and appreciated, satisfaction rates are improved. They can build better relationships with coworkers and managers and feel a sense of belonging within the organization. A strong company culture can align employee and company values. And when employees feel their work is meaningful and their contributions are valued, there are higher performance levels and a reduction in turnover.

Provide Meaningful Work

Giving employees a sense of purpose and fulfillment in their jobs can also improve employee retention and loyalty. When their work is meaningful and their contributions positively impact, your employees are more likely to stay engaged and motivated. A stronger emotional connection to the organization based on the feeling of doing good and meaningful work can improve retention. Employees who see themselves making a difference are less likely to seek employment elsewhere.

Be a Stellar Manager

Management can make all the difference in employee satisfaction and loyalty. Managers can improve performance and retention by clearly communicating expectations, providing regular feedback, and listening to employee concerns. Showing appreciation and recognition will enhance employee engagement. There should also be a culture of supportive leadership, empathy, and fair treatment with respect and dignity.

Listen to Feedback

Employees who feel empowered and comfortable providing feedback will also be more likely to stay engaged. But you shouldn't just listen to feedback; it should be used to improve processes and workplace culture. When you hear and incorporate feedback, you demonstrate that you value and appreciate what your employees bring to the table.

Offer Room for Development

Advancement is a big draw for many professionals. If someone feels they've maxed out their company's career growth opportunities and earning potential, they will seek that gratification from another employer. Provide opportunities for learning and increasing responsibilities within your organization to improve retention and employee loyalty.

If you still can't find the people you need, itec group is ready to assist!

Here in northern climates, snow, cold, ice, and winter safety are all a fact of life. While workplace safety is important all year long, it's critical during the winter, especially with extreme weather conditions. Here are the best practices you should implement to keep your team safe before spring.

Encourage Work-From-Home

Allow your employees to work from home during inclement weather, ice, or snow. Provide them access to systems and other tools needed to stay home safely. This will reduce the possibility of accidents on the roadways and show your employees that you care about their well-being.

Have Backup Supplies at Work

Employees who have to be in the workplace must have backup supplies on hand if they can't leave on time. This can include a comfortable space to relax or even nap and additional food and water. If the weather is terrible overnight, consider booking hotel rooms nearby.

Keep Parking Lots and Sidewalks Plowed and Salted

Even when the threat of a severe winter storm has passed, there are still hazards present. Ensure that your parking lots are adequately plowed and sidewalks are shoveled. Use salt to melt ice from walkways to protect your employees from slip-and-fall accidents.

Clean Wet Floors

Winter weather means wet shoes and boots. Your employees won't be able to help tracking it in the office and leaving wet footprints, especially by the door. Ensure floors are cleaned and dried regularly to eliminate hazards that can cause accidents.

Are you looking to hire this year? Give our team a call!

Is your company suffering from unnecessary turnover? For the last two years, many businesses have faced The Great Resignation, and it's critical to find out why employees are leaving your organization and stop the flow of the turnover tsunami. Attrition happens for many reasons, including terrible employee experiences and a lack of good leadership. Here are things you and your leadership team can do to retain top talent.

Hire Additional Help

Much of the reason for high turnover is burnout. If your employees feel they have no more left to give because too much is on their plate, they will quit. You can prevent this by hiring more help rather than expecting your employees to shoulder additional work. This can be in the form of temporary employees handling extra work or a new team member distributing the workload better.

Lead By Example

Another concern among employees is that they don't feel safe taking time off or making requests because it will make them look weak. If they don't see management doing the same things, they will think there will be retribution if they do it. You must lead by example and encourage your team to take time off or set boundaries.

Employee Feedback

Giving and getting feedback should also be a priority for your team. Make sure that when you're providing feedback, it isn't always critical or negative. Offer praise or gratitude whenever possible. And encourage your team to give input on management and take action to improve the environment.

Culture of Employment

This boils down to creating a culture where your team is excited to work. Focusing on the employee experience, providing flexibility and opportunity, and ways for your team to get involved. This is partly your reputation, which will help you find new employees in the future as well.

If you need help hiring, get in touch with itec group!

Finding the right candidate for your open position isn't always easy. You advertise, receive dozens if not hundreds of emails, and still find that the talent isn't meeting your expectations. It might be your application process. Are your job descriptions scaring away potential applicants? Here are some dos and don'ts for job description best practices.

List the Necessary Skills and Experience

When reading a resume, it usually takes a few seconds to form an opinion. You scan the resume looking for the most critical information. The same is true with job seekers and your job description. They want to be able to review it and see what's most important. If they do, they'll read through the whole thing to learn how to apply. Make sure you're providing the most necessary skills and experience first.

Don't Weigh "Nice to Have" so Heavily

Many companies also rely on the "nice to have" items for the job description. But rather than seeming aspirational, you're driving more qualified talent away from applying. When you include these items as a part of the skills and experience needed, they look less optional for an applicant. You may be narrowing your focus and excluding people from applying.

Include Salary and Benefits

It used to be that salary was never included in a job posting, but times are changing. Knowing the salary range before applying is increasingly critical, and job seekers are now actively avoiding companies that aren't transparent about their pay. Include a realistic salary range without any hidden agenda and describe your company's benefits.

Show How Success is Measured

Job seekers don't just want to know the laundry list of duties on the job; they also want to know how their success will be measured. For a job description, this is the equivalent of applicants including accomplishments on their resumes. You want to see how they were effective, and they want to see how they can be effective.

Keep it Short and Simple

Using the resume analogy again, ensure you keep the job description short and simple. Sure, you want to include as much information as necessary to get the message across, but don't overcomplicate it. If your description is too long, even the most qualified candidates will avoid reading to the end and may choose not to apply.

Make Your Application Process Easy

As a part of this process, your application process must be accessible. A recent SHRM report shows that 92% of all job seekers abandon online applications. When online applications require candidates to jump through too many hoops, they will decide the company isn't worth working with. For example, if they have to upload a resume and then type in identical information, they're more likely to quit than complete it.

If you're still struggling to find the employees you need, get in touch with itec group!

We live in a remote work era, and keeping your employees safe online is more important than ever. Without the protection of your in-office network, there are concerns about data security to and from your employees' workstations. If you're managing a remote team, consider these tips to ensure your cyber security is up to the task.

Educate Your Team on Phishing Scams

Phishing scams have become much more insidious in recent years. As much as we want our email filters to catch them, some still get through, and they look legitimate. Some are even using text messages to make it seem more urgent. Everyone needs to understand what to look for and what to avoid. Common phishing scams include:

· An alert about suspicious activity or login attempts on an account

· A problem with your payment

· A Conformation of personal or financial information

· An invoice you weren't expecting

· A Coupon for free products

Providing in-depth training on phishing scams is always a good idea, but also let employees know if they see a link or attachment they weren't expecting, to not click or respond.

Invest in a VPN

Another way to protect your company and employees' data is to invest in a VPN. VPN stands for virtual private network. When you set up a VPN, your employees will log in through that portal, and now all of their internet traffic will be through encryption. That encrypted tunnel means no one else can see your data, including hackers and your ISP. So when your employees are connecting through their at-home internet, business data is protected.

Keep Your Technology Updated

Cybersecurity is an industry that changes fast. A company's technology becomes outdated, and the current internet security requirements aren't compatible. Lead by example by completing system updates right away. Review software and hardware regularly to ensure your tech is consistent with the most up-to-date internet security requirements.

Encourage Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication

Another way you can lead by example and encourage your team to stay protected is to use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication. Yes, it can be hard to remember many unique passwords, but the number one way data is compromised is through hackers breaking codes for passwords. Creating strong passwords and using multi-factor authentication whenever available will add a layer of protection.

Ready to hire for your remote team? Get in touch with itec group!

Upskilling is a popular trend right now. It may be the most effective solution for The Great Resignation. To upskill your team is to provide training to tap into their potential and learn new skills and technology that will benefit your organization and every employee. Forming a culture based on learning and professional development leads to higher employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Here is what you need to know.

Improved Retention Rates

Many people who leave jobs are looking for advancement that isn't currently available in their position. Offering upskilling will keep your employees engaged, and as a result, they may not look elsewhere for those opportunities. Be sure to increase salary when you offer changes in positions due to learning new skills.

Enhanced Company Culture

When you are a company with a reputation for investing in your employee's training and development, you will be able to attract more talent. This enhanced company culture will suit your recruitment process and overall employee satisfaction.

More Flexible Workforce

When your team has increased knowledge and skills, they offer a more fluid approach to your work. They can collaborate and solve more problems as they understand different aspects of the work. By knowing more and being able to do various tasks, you also decrease employee boredom and improve motivation.

Continued Learning and Development

The world is constantly changing and evolving. When you provide additional training and development for your team members, you have the means within your organization to stay up to date on the latest skills and technology.

If you need to hire this year, turn to itec group!

Not all candidates are the same. You may find yourself struggling when you try to fit a square peg in a round hole. Not everyone will be a great fit, and that's okay. So, how do you know you're making the right decision? Here are six common red flags to watch out for in the hiring process.

Speaks Poorly About Previous Employers

Asking candidates about their current or most recent job is not uncommon. This can include details about their managers and working environment. This can be a concern if they volunteer negative feedback about their experience. It could point to a more significant problem with negativity or their inclination to have a similar experience in your organization.

Doesn't Share Similar Values

It's okay to hire people who share values with your company culture. A highly artistic and creative person isn't likely to thrive in an organization based on a lot of procedures, for example.

Not Prepared for the Interview

Job seekers need a certain level of preparedness ahead of an interview. If your candidate isn't aware of what the company does or the information from the job description, they may not be putting enough effort into getting the job.

Resume Seems Inconsistent

Did you notice some inconsistencies in their resume compared to their answers to your questions? Sometimes there are simple oversights, such as dates that are off by only a tiny amount. But other times, more significant red flags could indicate dishonesty in their resume.

Unable to Provide References

When you're ready to make an offer, job seekers should be prepared with references. If someone cannot produce a qualified reference list, that can spell bad news. Furthermore, Candidates should have spoken to professional references before submitting the list to you, so the people you call aren't caught off guard.

Doesn't Show Up on Time

Bigger than a simple pet peeve, not showing up to the interview on time can show a larger pattern. There may be exceptions if the person contacts you on their drive to let you know they've run into trouble or gotten lost, but pay attention to this behavior. It could grow into something that would be a red flag.

If you're struggling to find the all-star your company needs, turn to itec group!