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Talent development is an intensive and complex process that is worthwhile, if performed effectively, because of the great results you can achieve— reduced turnover, improved productivity, improved succession planning, etc. 

To accomplish these goals, you need to set up your talent development for success. Otherwise you’re program likely will be saddled with confusion, frustration and a lack of focus. Below are five actions to take. 

1. Define the required competencies for each job (e.g. soft skills, technical skills, level of experience) through a benchmarking process.

This is critical for knowing which training materials to create and/or purchase, and to know which employees should be given which training. 

2. Acquire quality, thorough, and relevant training and learning materials.

Whether created internally or from a service provider (e.g. OpenSesame), the quality of your materials has a direct role on the quality of the training—and on the results you achieve. 

3. Use a quality learning management system (LMS) to help you organize the process.

An effective talent development program requires a smooth, efficient process. The process is complex enough that it’s virtually impossible to run well without the help of technology—a learning management system. A quality LMS allows HR, employees, supervisors and training managers to know the status of training activities that are relevant to them, so everyone knows what to do. For example, HR can see the status for all employees, individual employees can see their own status. 

4. Use assessments to identify the skills and competencies employees have, and areas that need improvement.

Assessments show employees’ strengths and weaknesses in key areas, making them great tools for determining the skill and competency areas individual employees need to develop. In other words, assessments help you guide employees’ training for maximum benefit of both the employees and your organization. 

5. Create specific, reasonable goals for talent development efforts.

While these can and should be adjusted over time, having goals gives you a measuring stick for determining if your results are satisfactory or not—and if significant adjustments are needed. 

As you move forward with your talent development program, it’s important to evaluate your results for each of these actions. Have you determined the right competencies for given jobs? Are you training and learning materials of high quality and aligned with job requirements? Is your LMS working for you? Are your assessments helping guide employees’ training? Are your goals reasonable, or should they be adjusted? 

The great thing is, if you get these five actions right, you’ll be on a path to success. Of course, there’s much more that goes into talent development. For a guide that details the keys for successful talent development, download our article “3 Steps To Achieve Talent Development That Drives Organizational Success.”

Surveys show that employers are increasing their training budgets in order to meet their talent needs. But money alone isn’t enough to achieve quality talent development results: increased employee retention, productivity and engagement, as well improved succession planning. 

In particular, as an employer, you must meet the three talent development imperatives listed below to get quality results. 

1. You must have significant organizational commitment

Succeeding at talent development requires more than acquiring the right tools and providing quality learning materials.  Many companies fail to create a culture of learning. The consequence is engagement in the talent development process is poor, and so are the outcomes. 

How do you create a culture of learning? Take concrete actions that demonstrate the great value your organization places in talent development. These include:

• Make training and development for all employees
• Recognize employees who learn new skills and improve their performance
• Hire internally
• Give employees input in the process, and offer and encourage self-learning

 2. You must have patience with training and learning

There’s no getting around it—talent development takes time, and must be ongoing. It’s easy for more immediate priorities to take precedence, and derail training and learning activities. Prevent this showing your organizational commitment, insisting that training development activities move forward.

3. You must effectively manage the training process

Employees, supervisors and training managers are all involved in training, and all need to be on the same page about the training process—the current status, next steps, etc. 

This can be terribly difficult for HR and training managers to manage. Management difficulties cause delays and confusion in the process that slow talent development efforts to a crawl, and cause frustration among all involved. These problems are common among organizations that are trying to manage training with paper or Excel. As a result, it’s critical to have the proper training management tools. 

Want to get better talent development results? Read our new article, “3 Steps To Achieve Talent Development That Drives Organizational Success.”

You might be surprised to learn that the country’s best salespeople hail from Iowa. Or that Oregon produces more CEOs than any other state. (We’d be surprised too, since we just made that up.) But what if you actually had predictive insight like that? What if you could screen applicants certain indicative elements, in order to better predict their success with your organization? Well the fact is, you can. Employee assessment tools enable you to use key data points and predictive analytics to refine and improve your recruiting efforts. And when assessment tools are an integrated component of your recruiting solution, the value of both becomes even greater. Let’s learn more.

Assessments help you hire the best

Employee assessments and predictive analytics is changing the way organizations search for, find and retain top talent. When applied to recruiting, these tools help to:

• Screen out candidates lacking key skills
• Identify top talent that demonstrate the competencies required the job
• Provide further insight into key behavioral traits and motivators that individuals bring to the job
• Identify benchmarks to invest in future recruitment efforts for certain skills

Assessments to help your team reach their potential

The value of employee assessments doesn’t end after the hire. You can continue to use various assessment tools to make smart investments in your team – helping every employee find and maximize their strengths. In fact, people who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in their work and three times more likely to say they have an excellent quality of life. And we all  know how important employee engagement is.

When assessment tools are wisely used among your workforce, they help to: 

• Increase motivation and team performance
• Retain key members of staff
• Develop cohesive leadership teams
• Identify future leaders
• Increase sales performance
• Identify applicants’ strengths (and weaknesses) to better align future training

Integration leverages the power of assessments

Once you decide to embrace the value of employee assessment tools, you’ll need a place to securely store the data you’re collecting. That’s where the value of integration comes in. By integrating your recruiting/applicant tracking solution with your assessment solution, you have a single source for the insight and information about your applicants and your personnel. We currently partner with two employee assessment companies: Gallup and Predictive Insight, integrating their assessment tools into Cyber Recruiter, our recruiting/applicant tracking solution.

Integrating an applicant tracking solution like Cyber Recruiter with an employee assessment tool provides a streamlined assessment process, making the results of those assessments more functional, through the ability to: 

• Directly take applicants to an assessment survey after they complete an online application
• Email a link to the assessment survey to applicants as desired
• View and share the results of the assessment survey from within Cyber Recruiter

We’d be pleased to share our experience with employee assessment integration. Contact us to start the conversation. For more helpful hiring insights, read our new article – Best Practices Guide – 4 Key Steps to Successful Talent Acquisition

More than two-thirds of HR professionals are struggling to recruit candidates for full-time positions, SHRM’s 2016 report “The New Talent Landscape” found. One clear takeaway: retaining employees is critical for meeting your talent needs.  

There are many employee retention strategies out there, but most come with significant drawbacks for employers and provide little or no extra rewards. Take increasing salaries. To impact retention rates at a significant level, you’d need to push up salaries significantly too. This would come at a tremendous financial cost, and the higher salaries wouldn’t do anything to help your employees do their jobs better.

Source: Randstad 2015 Employer Branding Survey

Talent development, however, is an exception. While there are associated costs such as training materials and staff, in addition to to providing a big retention boost (a lack of career opportunities is the No. 1 reason employees say they leave an organization), it gives employers several other rewards. A few include:

• Improved employee productivity—employees learn skills that help them with their jobs.
• Improved employee engagement—employees are less likely to feel they are in a rut, or in a dead-end job.
• Improved succession planning—employees are trained in skills that prepare them to succeed at managerial and executive roles (3.6 million baboomers are expected to retire this year alone.) 

It’s no wonder that many companies make talent development a high priority: it makes sense for them and their employees crave it. According to the SHRM survey, 69% of HR professionals said that their organizations had training budgets last year, and 89% reported that their training budgets stayed the same (50%) or increased (39%). 

All this said, like most valuable strategies, talent development isn’t easy. Training is a long, complicated process that can be difficult for HR to manage, and it requires significant organizational commitment. 

But many employers make talent development much more difficult than it needs to be. To learn a common-sense method that will help you succeed at talent development—benefiting your organization and your employees—read our new article, “3 Steps To Achieve Talent Development That Drives Organizational Success.”

Over the past several months we have witnessed a substantial increase in the number of partner opportunities coming from the Canadian market. This heightened level of activity has brought about a great deal of excitement and renewed interest, prompting us to intensify our focus and align dedicated resources to help our Canadian Sage partner community continue to grow. This really comes as no surprise, as we have seen a major upswing in the number of recruiting and training management deals across other regions in North America. These opportunities are being uncovered because of an increased need for recruiting (Cyber Recruiter) and training management (Cyber Train) technology solutions that simplify and eliminate the ongoing inefficiencies plaguing talent management processes across organizations of all industries and sizes.

Several of our partners in Canada have recognized and embraced this as a prime opportunity to deliver huge value to existing clients and prospects. They are approaching leaders and knowledge workers in Human Resources to discuss challenges they are facing related to managing the recruiting and training process. Our more proactive partners no longer see these processes as an afterthought or add-on sales opportunity. Due to the significant growth potential that exists, these partners are intensely focused on leading with Cyber Recruiter and Cyber Train as part of their solution portfolio, which are Sage HRMS Endorsed solutions.

Don’t worry if recruiting and training management has not been a primary focus, as there are an abundance of opportunities in the Canadian marketplace to go after! We need more proactive partners asking questions early in their conversations with customers and prospects to identify and uncover these needs. The good thing is you are not alone in this. We have dedicated resources here at Visibility Software and of course through Sage to help.

In fact, Deana Dearry of Sage North America and her team regularly champion Visibility Software, and has been a great asset to have on our side. 

“Knowing I can rely on the Visibility team to swoop in and empower us with their high-level of expertise and  “can do” spirit is such a great asset for our customers and partners – especially since so many of us just aren’t that familiar with all the intricacies of Recruiting/Applicant Tracking and Learning Management! It’s a relief to know when our customers ask the questions, we’ll seem like experts with all the answers thanks to Mary Sue and her colleagues”, said Deana.

Mary Sue McClintock plays a very active role in managing the Canadian territory here at Visibility Software, and prides herself in developing relationships and helping her business partners succeed. As a dedicated resource, Mary Sue helps partners build out an active strategy plan, and is available to help train on how to ask the proper questions that will uncover needs, assist in responding to RFPs, provide product demos, and help you leverage our many marketing resources (whitepapers, email content, product overview collateral, infographics, videos, blog articles).  One partner example, Amanda Scott from The Answer Company, involves Mary Sue on just about every step of a new deal from registering the opportunity and all the stages in-between right through close.

We are excited to about the intensive renewed activity in the Canadian market, and are very excited for the many opportunities to come.  If you need additional information on how Cyber Recruiter and Cyber Train are solving recruiting and training management challenges, don’t hesitate to connect with Mary Sue (click here to send her a message). She is ready to support you and your team with everything you need to provide solutions for your customers, close more deals and generate more revenue. We can’t wait to hear from you!

The Real Value of an Employee Development and Training Solution

Many organizations that we speak with tell us that while they understand the value of employee training and development, they aren’t certain they need a formal learning management program to deliver, track and manage that training. Many of these organizations track the training they do provide in spreadsheets or even with paper files. While we can agree that any approach is better than no approach, learning management programs are ideal candidates for automation. There are big benefits to be realized from standardizing processes and automating the workflow surrounding employee training, and here we take a look at just a few of those benefits. 

Aids retention

Studies tell us that 40 percent of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year, citing the lack of skills training and development as the principal reason for moving on. Employee development and training programs help employees feel invested in their jobs and in their organizations. A well-established program ensures that employees continue to feel motivated to advance their own careers within the company, as well as to advance the company’s mission, rather than turning elsewhere for new opportunities. 

Attracts job seekers

An organization that has a standardized employee development plan reassures job seekers that the company is invested in their long-term success and advancement within the organization. Applicants are less likely to invest themselves in a company that doesn’t show the same commitment in return. A recent Bersin study noted, “Companies with career management programs are better able to attract and retain top talent, leading to higher employee engagement and, in turn, a positive impact on the bottom line.” 

Automates manual processes

If your training requirements are modest, it may be tempting to continue to use the collection of spreadsheets to track course offerings, registrations and certification renewals, but deploying a smart learning management solution, you can dramatically reduce the overhead involved, saving money and driving efficiency. From automatic reminders to employees and their supervisors, to enrollment tracking and training reimbursement request handling, through an automated approval workflow, a dedicated learning management solution can generate a rapid and significant return on investment.   

Promotes consistency

With formalized training, you can be certain that vital functions and tasks are taught in a consistent, precise manner, ensuring that all employees receive the same information. You can of course develop your own training in house, but most organizations rely at least in part, on professionally-produced training courses. Depending upon the specific training provided, the value of such consistency may vary from improved productivity to reduced liability for the company. 

Streamlines compliance

From sexual harassment awareness training, OSHA-mandated safety training, through business ethics – it’s not just that proper training is the right thing to do, training protects your company from potentially devastating law suits and fines. A learning management solution helps ensure employees (and you as the employer) are in compliance with job requirements and the law. The software can track certification expirations, courses due, and notifications and accreditation requirements, helping maintain strict compliance and protecting both you and your employees. 

It makes financial sense

Increased revenue is a common goal across many organizations, and investing in employee training to support that goal makes financial sense. For example: 

• The Cheesecake Factory invests an average of $2000 annually per employee on training. The chain enjoys sales of $1000 per square foot, almost double the restaurant industry average. 

• Payroll provider ADP coaches some sales associates on managing virtual teams and time management. Those that participate had an average of seven percent growth in sales. 

• Motorola has found that every dollar invested on training can yield as much as a 30 percent gain in productivity within three years, which has helped them cut costs $3 billion and increase profits 47 percent. 

For more in-depth tips on taking employee learning and development to the next level, check out our Best Practices Guide – 3 Steps to Achieve Talent Development that Drives Organizational Success. 

Recruiters as brand ambassadors – as opposed to salespeople – for your organization

Let’s face it. It’s a candidate-driven marketplace out there. It is more difficult than ever to attract and retain qualified employees. As a recruiter, you’re charged with filling open positions with the most qualified candidates. But there’s more to it than attracting top talent; you need to find the right match for your organization so every hire becomes a productive, engaged, long-term employee. Competing for talent in a buyers’ market requires the recruiter’s role to evolve from a transactional salesperson to a brand ambassador – responsible for establishing the organization’s reputation as a desirable place to work, and keeping the attention of both today’s and tomorrow’s job seekers. Just what makes a brand ambassador and how can you get there?

Convey Your Brand

As an ambassador, your job is not to sell applicants on your company. Instead, you want to serve as a matchmaker, accurately communicating the organization’s brand and identifying applicants’ individual brands to find an ideal match.

What do we mean when we speak of a brand? In this context, it’s not a marketing term. Your brand is your organization’s essence – it’s core values. It helps to think of the organization as a person and assign personality traits to it. Is your organization resourceful, adaptable, creative, independent, serious, spontaneous, responsible? And you’ll need to think beyond the organization’s brand to consider both the department and hiring manager’s brands as well.

You, as a recruiter, are the initial human point of contact for your company’s brand and are in the unique position of using both your experience and your discretion to make vital hiring decisions. You’re searching for a brand match – the perfect relationship where both parties share parallel goals and approach professional life in similar way. 

Salesperson Versus Ambassador

What is ambassador-style recruiting? Essentially, it boils down to respect for the candidate. A respect for their time, their goals, their skills and their potential contribution to your organization. Here’s a look at some of the pronounced differences between salesperson- and ambassador-style recruiting. 

Applicant Experience and Onboarding

An ambassador-style recruiter should understand what’s it like to be an applicant, and hone the recruiting and onboarding process to be an overall positive experience. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that new employees decide within the first 30 days whether they feel welcome in the organization, and that one in 25 leave their jobs because of a poor (or nonexistent) onboarding program. There are areas in the applicant experience to focus on: 

1. First impressions: Are your job listings up-to-date and does the language accurately reflect the position and the ideal applicant? Do the listings help convey your brand? Do applicants receive confirmation of the submittal of their resume or application?
2. Process: Does the process move smoothly with organized, timely interviews? Do you process resumes efficiently? Are non-selected applicants politely notified?
3. Finalization: Is the onboarding process geared to the applicant? Do they have the tools they need to succeed? Are early expectations communicated?

As part of the applicant experience, we can’t stress enough the importance of treating each applicant with the respect they deserve. You should be looking to attract not just today’s applicants, but tomorrow’s as well. Today’s runner up may be tomorrow’s perfect candidate.

The ambassador-style recruiter is focused on building relationships, not closing deals. By putting the applicants’ first, respecting their time and individuality, and meshing their brand with yours, your organization has the best chance to win top talent – today and beyond.

For more on ambassador-style recruiting, check out our on-demand webinar: 

What Every Company Ought to Know about Ambassador Style Recruiting

After spending a great deal of time and resources to bring in quality new hires, many employers are making a major mistake not prioritizing onboarding. 

Despite the fact that effective onboarding improves employee performance and increases employee engagement and retention, according to a report the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton, a study of 500 U.S. companies of varying sizes shows that the average amount spent on onboarding per new hire is just $67—and a third of these companies spend no money at all. 

Effective onboarding doesn’t have to be expensive, but the figures above are still alarming. 

No matter what the final tally is on your own company’s onboarding efforts, there are certain things you want to get right to make the process effective. Of course, all necessary paperwork must be completed quickly and efficiently. But you also want to get new hires established in their jobs and connected with your culture, so that you can get them up to speed as quickly as possible. This should begin on day one with the right tools, for example like a Fact Sheet for New Hires. You can create an informative infographic fact sheet template for new hires from Venngage that outlines important info about your organization. This will go along way towards helping new hires will feel more familiar with the company. After all, it typically takes about eight months to get new employees fully productive, but getting them comfortable as quickly as possible helps minimize that time period. On the other hand, failing to provide a reasonable orientation can leave new employees “confused and disoriented,” which is far from conducive for high performance and engagement. 

Smart companies are recognizing the importance of onboarding, with the most successful companies connecting it with employee performance. And more and more are recognizing that it’s a good idea to begin the onboarding process even before a new hire’s first day. According to Aberdeen’s “An Employee-Centric Digital Workplace” report, best-in-class companies are 53% more likely than others to begin the onboarding process before day one (this is also known as pre-boarding). Additionally, best-in-class companies are 39% more likely than others to measure employee engagement with onboarding to ensure new hires understand what’s expected of them. 

So if you’re looking to get better performance from your new hires, consider seeing if you can improve the onboarding you provide. 

How Modern Talent Acquisition Software Can Help

Software allows you to automate crucial aspects of the onboarding process. For example, you ensure that all necessary documents have been filled out correctly, saving time and preventing problems. You also can manage and track the other tasks that need to be completed after someone is hired (email setup, ID photo, parking pass, etc.) As a result, you can put your focus on higher-value onboarding priorities—such as making sure the new employees you just hired have the proper attention to get off on the right foot, which improves performance, engagement and retention levels.

To learn other important steps for improving your hiring results, read our new article –  “4 Key Steps to Successful Talent Acquisition.”

A Bersin report found that “developing strong relationships with hiring managers is the top driver of talent acquisition performance.” In fact, it was found to be four times more influential than any other factor studied. 

Yet many employers are clearly failing at managing the recruiter/hiring manager relationship. From the same report: 80% of recruiters believe they have a good understanding of the jobs they’re recruiting for, but 61% of hiring managers disagree. 

Given the tremendous gap in their opinions, it’s no wonder managing the relationships between these two groups is one of our “4 Keys Steps to Successful Talent Acquisition.”

The recruiter/hiring manager relationship is critically important for two reasons: 

1. The recruiter needs to understand the skills and qualifications the hiring manager is seeking for given job roles or the wrong candidates can be delivered, which results in bad hires or delays in hiring.

2. The recruiter and hiring manager need to work together to avoid time-costing bottlenecks that slow the hiring process. Bottlenecks frustrate candidates and increase time to hire. 

So, how can you promote quality relationships between your recruiters and hiring managers? 

1. Encourage frequent, effective communication at every step of the process. At many organizations, this isn’t happening—which isn’t surprising, considering the statistics above from the Bersin report. “The lack of communication between recruiters and hiring managers is the biggest challenge we have in the industry—period,” Steve Lowisz, CEO of recruiting and recruitment research firm Qualigence International, told SHRM.  

2. Take steps to build trust and agreement. Have recruiters and hiring managers meet face to face in an effort to establish themselves as partners working together toward a singular goal: making quality hires in an efficient manner. As part of this, recruiters and hiring managers should agree upon written expectations for the relationship and how they’re going to work together. Doing so will help them stay on the same page, especially since both will have documentation to refer to.             

3. Have them hold process improvement meetings. Recruiters and hiring managers should hold occasional meetings to evaluate how they can work together more efficiently and more effectively. For example, they can examine if the recruiters have been sending along the right quantities and types of candidates to the hiring manager for interviews.                                                                                                               

4. Use modern talent acquisition software. Software will help recruiters and hiring managers stay organized consolidating candidate and job information, and will prevent communication breakdowns using notifications and auto-alerts throughout the process. In fact, recruiters and hiring managers won’t even have to log in to the software to be alerted of an update—smart emails will keep everyone on the same page. So, for example, both recruiters and hiring managers will be aware if changes are made to a job description. Plus, there will be no more giant piles of paper to sift through, which will save time, eliminate frustration and reduce cost. 

Your talent acquisition efforts have a tremendous impact on the future of your company. Don’t let poor or mediocre recruiter/hiring manager relationships spoil that future. 

For more on managing the recruiter/hiring manager relationship, and to learn other important steps for improving your hiring, read our new article –

Are you considering implementing a formalized employee development program? It is an investment that’s likely to pay off. Organizations with a career development program in place enjoy up to 250 percent higher productivity. And the benefits don’t stop there. Reduced turnover, higher employee engagement levels, increased innovation and improved risk management are some of the additional benefits companies realize when they implement a formal training and career development program. Training also serves as a recruiting tool – you’re more likely to attract and keep good employees if you offer them development opportunities. 

If your company doesn’t have a training and development program in place, it may seem daunting to get started. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are five basics to keep in mind as you work to implement an effective and efficient employee training and development solution in your organization. 

1. Consider it an investment

There is a tendency among business owners and executives to view employee training as an optional expense — and that mindset can prove very costly to your organization in the long run. The moment you think of employee development and training as just another expenditure, you’ll neglect it. Instead, think of it as an investment that can prove extremely valuable for the long-term success and growth of your organization.  

2. Remember you’re planning a program, not an event

A training program is more than just a series of unrelated courses or workshops. It should reflect your organization’s goals, as well as the needs of your staff. What’s important is that your staff training program has some reason behind its structure. An unrelated series of presentations or activities might have some value, but it will benefit neither the staff nor the organization as much as a training program that forms a coherent whole. Spend the time to outline and flesh-out your course offering, aligning it with your business needs and goals. Document the desired outcomes of each course and determine how you will measure and track those outcomes. 

3. Involve your staff

Make a point to involve staff members in the planning and implementation of your training program. The people who actually do the work are usually in the best position to figure out what their needs are. Ask questions, gather input, and structure training opportunities that meet employees where they are and take them where they want or need to go. Training breeds commitment, and committed employees are happier and more productive. 

4. Incorporate the basics – but don’t stop there

Companies often decide to implement a training program to address compliance matters (think OSHA or Department of Labor), manage risk ((think sexual harassment and diversity training), and/or professional certification or credential tracking (think nurses, teachers or commercial truck drivers) – and these are certainly areas that benefit from a formalized approach to training. Job function training is another common (and worthy) goal of an employee training program.  

As you plan your training program, consider broadening it into a full-fledged employee development program. Think of training as a retention tool, helping to instill loyalty and commitment from employees. One idea would be to offer career development courses, enabling employees to prepare themselves for promotion. Staff will be more likely to stay if you offer them ways to learn and grow while at your company. Don’t give them a reason to move on letting them stagnate once they’ve mastered initial tasks.  

5. Leverage technology

A training and development initiative won’t succeed if it isn’t easy to maintain. Companies often rely on spreadsheets, Word documents and calendar reminders to track employee training. Usually these programs were initiated when the company was much smaller, or was training fewer individuals. A disjointed system like this requires administrators to enter data in multiple locations, making reporting, analytics and data sharing virtually impossible. While this may work when your training needs are minimal, as you grow this system becomes overly labor intensive. 

Employee training, with the myriad of details to be tracked, is an ideal candidate for automation. Not long ago, learning management software was only within financial reach of the largest companies. But now, there are affordable learning management solutions accessible to small and mid-sized companies. Give your initiative the best chance of succeeding establishing an easy to manage infrastructure that’s both scalable and accessible. 

Interested in more suggestions for launching an effective employee training and development program?