Key insights from top HR leaders at Facebook, Lyft and more
8 Actionable Takeaways From Top HR Leaders
Human Resources (HR) is a changing game. Gone are the days of traditional, bureaucratic HR (sorry, Toby from the Office) as companies dedicate more resources to their most valuable asset: Their people.
Leaders in Talent Acquisition and Human Resources have access to more resources than ever before, but also shoulder more responsibilities. To thrive in HR 2.0., execs need to be adept in everything from sourcing candidates to fostering diversity and bias training. That’s why we’re sharing advice from top talent leaders on 8 of the biggest trends in HR and talent acquisition, and how to adapt to them.
1. Diversity in a New Generation
Key Insight: The numbers of women and minority hires in tech are dismal compared to other industries. Rethink hiring, benefits and culture to support diversity — including dedicated training for managing bias.
Actionable Takeaway: Remove bias through training and use terms which avoid bias and connotation, such as ‘the four-month leave’ rather than ‘maternity leave’.
Source: Advice on Managing a New Generation (Washington Post)
2. Rapid Growth
Key Insight: The way you source and track your candidates is key. Using data in the right way is critical to finding the right hire and tracking performance, but also don’t overlook the value of your team’s connections: about 40% of Lyft’s hires come from personal referrals.
Actionable Takeaway: Introduce an effective referral program.
Source: How Lyft Hired for Hypergrowth (Lever)
3. Smart Interviewing
Key Insight: Unstructured interviews are highly ineffective, while structured interviews and conceptual questions are much more successful and indicative of an employee’s performance. Bland, generic questions are actually good — they’re reliable and allow for compelling answers.
Actionable Takeaway: Introduce some form of work sample test into your interviewing process.
Source: Here’s Google’s Secret to Hiring the Best People (Wired)
4. Sense of Purpose
Key Insight: When interviewing, ask candidates about a time they felt “connected to a higher purpose beyond just doing your job”. Values are just as important as skills and experience.
Actionable Takeaway: Add questions to your interview that search for alignment in values and purpose.
Source: Here’s How […] Have Made Purpose a Vital Part of Their Culture (LinkedIn)
5. Discussing Diversity
Key Insight: Diversity is something that each company needs to define for itself. Encourage your employees to discuss diversity openly, and then set company diversity goals that resonate with your team.
Actionable Takeaway: Open a Slack channel, or similar tool, that acts as a free space to discuss diversity. Mention in job listings and company descriptions that your company is aiming to be inclusive and diverse.
Source: How Lever Got To 50–50 Women And Men (Medium)
6. Tech and Personalization
Key Insight: There’s a big trend towards data-driven analytics, algorithmic ROI, bots and AI, which will change the sourcing and vetting process. But even as sourcing is more automated, the hire itself will become more personal, with hyper-personalized benefits and conditions that are attuned to each person. Annual performance reviews will be abandoned in lieu of emphasis on free and open feedback.
Actionable Takeaway: Don’t be afraid to use analytics and data to find great candidates. But when making the hire, keep it individualized and personalized.
Source: How Recruiting and HR Will Change in 2017, According to LinkedIn’s Talent Leaders (LinkedIn)
7. Transparency and Diversity
Key Insight: It’s important to be transparent about the diversity (or lack of) in your company. Transparency allows you to clearly realize and achieve diversity goals. Quantitative studies show that higher diversity is linked to increased productivity, so create programs to source diversity hires.
Actionable Takeaway: Implement a Rooney Rule approach — at least one minority candidate must be included in every candidate search.
Source: HubSpot’s 2016 Diversity Data (ThinkGrowth)
8. Culture
Key Insight: There’s no ‘one size fits all’ company culture. Have a clear idea of what your culture is and what you stand for, and that great culture will attract and retain great talent. Embrace the “yelpification” of the employment brand — listen to constructive criticism.
Actionable Takeaway: Know your culture, stand for it, and understand that not everything will be a perfect fit. Don’t flinch at criticism or try to bury it; instead let Glassdoor, Yelp and personal feedback be sources to fine-tune your company culture.
Source: Why Culture Doesn’t Just Happen (ThinkGrowth)
