Bringing older workers to the retail industry isn’t a new phenomenon. Back in 2004, Home Depot set the standard by teaming up with the AARP to recruit older workers for its stores. Under the partnership, the AARP trained its members—all aged 50 or older—in areas such as plumbing, landscaping, kitchen and bath, then assisted them to find job placements in the specific Home Depot departments they were trained in. And clothing retailer L.L. Bean specifically recruits older staff for its seasonal hiring, using marketing campaigns with slogans such as, “use our employee discount to shop for your grand-kids.”

The current economic crisis in the U.S. has meant older workers are seeking new careers in even greater numbers than before. Older workers who have been laid off traditionally have a harder time finding a job in their existing profession, and have been forced to turn to lower-paid jobs traditionally reserved for college students and teenagers. The trend is becoming so common, abc news wrote an article accusing older workers of “taking kids’ temp jobs.”

But if you haven’t already been swept up in what’s being referred to as the “silver tsunami,” you might be wondering why retailers are focusing their efforts so intently on the older crowd. As it turns out, older workers have significant advantages for the retail industry in particular, making them an attractive proposition for hire:

Scheduling While younger retail employees often have to fit their work schedule around their college classes or parenting responsibilities, older workers are often more able to accept constantly changing schedules. In fact, older workers typically value the flexibility that comes with a retail job, preferring not to be tied down to a fixed 9-5 schedule.

Productivity The Wharton School of Business notes that older workers take fewer sick days than younger workers. For both scheduling purposes and overall productivity, this is a great benefit for retailers.

Loyalty The retail industry is used to high turnover, and retaining seasonal workers for more than one season is no small feat. Yet over half of the seasonal older workforce employed by L.L. Bean returns to the company “year after year.” Because older workers are not necessarily dependent on the job for their day-to-day expenses, they’re more likely to be available for hire in multiple years, unlike other staff that are seeking permanent employment elsewhere.

If older workers continue to retire at the same rate as generations past, there will be millions of unfilled vacancies in the U.S. within the next decade, and competition for retired workers will be fierce—not just in retail but throughout the nation’s various employment sectors. Get ahead of the crowd by assessing how the older workforce can add value to your organization and targeting your recruitment now.

The Innovation in HR series is bound to make waves in the HR and Job Seeker communities – and we’re delighted to be involved.

Over the next six months, Innovation in HR will be running a series of US-based round-table events and webinars to discuss how innovation is changing the HR landscape – and what that means for job seekers.

The Purpose

Innovation in HR aims to help HR professionals carry out their tasks more efficiently, and for job seekers to understand what they need to do within the industry they are applying for to give them the best chance of securing a job. We hope that this in turn will do its bit in reducing the unemployment gap in the US and beyond.

The Format

There will be six events over the next six months. Each event will begin with a closed round table session, featuring our resident experts and the relevant industry’s HR Leaders. Later on, the event will then be broadcast live via webinar giving recruiters and job seekers will have an opportunity to engage with the Round Table attendees.

The Dates and Times

Retail: April 30. Round Table 6pm – 7pm, Live Webinar 7:15pm – 8pm (EST)

Hospitality: May 31. Round Table 6pm – 7pm, Live Webinar 7:15pm – 8pm

Professional: June 28. Round Table 6pm – 7pm, Live Webinar 7:15pm – 8pm

Marketing/Advertising/PR: Sep 27. Round Table 6pm – 7pm, Live Webinar 7:15pm – 8pm

Sales/Business Development: Oct 24. Round Table 6pm – 7pm, Live Webinar 7:15pm – 8pm

College/University: November 28. Round Table 6pm – 7pm, Live Webinar 7:15pm – 8pm

The Experts

Innovation In HR is privileged to have a panel of some of the worlds most well renowned HR thinkers and commentators. The panel will attend all the round-tables and webinars to bring general recruiting and HR expertise and ideas to the industry specific discussion.

Allison Cheston is career advisor, marketer and expert in executive search. Allison works with mid-career executives and young adults, to help them identify their unique value in the marketplace and explore alternative careers.

Brian Cousin is a member of SNR Denton’s Global Labor and Employment Practice and the firm’s Commercial Litigation Group, specializing in employment litigation and counseling, ERISA and benefits litigation, commercial and financial litigation, and executive contract negotiations.

Donna Sweidan, founder of Careerfolk, is a credentialed Career Coach and LinkedIn Expert with over 15 years experience motivating and facilitating job seekers and career changers in their quest for professional fulfillment.

Joshua Waldman is recognized as one of the nation’s top authorities in using Social Media to drive an executive level search. He is the author of “Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies”. Joshua is in demand across the nation for radio, TV, and press interviews. He is conducting trainings, speeches and webinars for career and professional organizations.

Join the Roundtable

Some limited spots may still be available at the Round Tables. Please request an invitation request via the Innovation in HR website.

Watch the Webinar

Log on to The Social Job Partnership Facebook page, or Innovate CV’s Facebook page at 7:17pm EST during every event. You don’t have to register for the webinars, but if you’d like to stay in touch with the latest info, do so via the Innovation in HR website.

HR is innovating. Find out how, and what it means for you.

In the current economy, you can’t even rely on your superior skill set to get your foot in the door. Employers are reporting that applicants—even those applying for entry-level positions—are more experienced and qualified than ever before. Consider McDonald’s, who received over a million applications for the 50,000 jobs it advertised on National Hiring Day in 2011. Even though the company hired more positions than expected, the selection rate was still only 6.2%—making it more competitive than admission to Harvard University.

In a group of experienced HR professionals—when every resume is error-free and all the candidates have polished interview responses—just how does an HR executive stand out from the pack?

• Preparation Sure, most HR executives will prepare for the interview. But there’s a world of difference between a cursory once-over of the company website, and detailed follow-up with company insiders. Use your networking contacts to get in touch with respected current employees, and ask them about the job, the company culture, and priority projects. Try to speak with contacts both inside and outside the HR department for a balanced mix of perspectives on its role within the company. Get copies of HR policies, operational plans, labor agreements, budgets and projections. Identify upcoming legislative changes that will need to be made, figure out when the next union contracts will be negotiated and review the budget to determine if the company is more likely to be designing a bonus program or a layoff plan—then slant your interview responses accordingly.

• Samples and Handouts Customize specific handouts and bring them with you to the interview. For example, draft a 30/60/90 day plan—a document explaining what you would do in your first 30, 60 and 90 days on the job. Or create a bulleted document indicating your ideas for the strategic direction of human resources in the short term (one year or less) and long term (over five years). Although you might have prepared several handouts, don’t introduce them unless it’s timely and relevant. If you have multiple handouts, organize them in a briefcase or folder so you can quickly select the document you need during the interview.

• Show Your Strategic Style with Statistics You already know that operational knowledge and business strategy is central to successful HR. But demonstrating that philosophy in an interview can be tricky. Arm yourself with facts and figures from your current company to demonstrate the operational impact of your work. For example, explain how you reduced the turnover rate more than 50 percent by creating a mentoring program, or give the return on investment realized by the operational skills training you designed.

• Questions It’s never a good idea to be without questions at the end of an interview, but you can’t fall back on generic questions about the company benefits plan that any HR professional should already know the answer to. Instead, plan several thoughtful HR questions that will likely develop into further discussion and allow you to showcase your strengths even further. For example, if you specialize in labor relations and collective bargaining, ask about the company’s relationship with the union.

• Thank-You Note Only 10 percent of applicants actually take the time to send a thank-you note or email, so it’s a sure-fire way to stand out from the pack. If you’ve ever finished an interview, only to think of the perfect answer as you leave the building, a concise, professional thank-you email can be a way to cover those missed opportunities. And just because you didn’t get a chance to use your handouts in the interview, doesn’t mean it was a waste of your time to create them. Upload unused handouts you still want to share to your resume, and include relevant work samples that demonstrate your skills and experience in the specific areas the interview focused on. For example, if the interviewers mentioned a specific human resources problem—such as a high workers’ compensation incident rate—include samples of the wellness program you designed and the statistics showing the associated drop in claims and costs. Include a brief note about what you’ve included, and provide the link to your updated resume. Not only will the interviewer see your samples, but he’ll be reminded of your skills and qualifications again too.

Over to you.  Do you have any suggestions, yourselves? Anecdotes from your HR job hunting experience? Perhaps you’re looking for work now – what’s it like on the ground?

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These three attributes are essential:

Skilled Communicator

How many other executives transition on a moment’s notice from boardroom presentations to union negotiations and then onto suggesting an employee should shower—or at least invest in a good deodorant—all in the same day? A successful HR executive is a skilled communicator who is able to deliver a compelling message at all levels of the organisation, negotiating settlement agreements with departing employees, resolving complaints and defusing conflict. An HR manager’s persuasive, authoritative and no-nonsense communications allow him to represent the business in testimony at employment tribunals or in a presentation to employees regarding TUPE transfers, for example.

At the same time, HR is often the face of the company—one of the first introductions a candidate has to the organisation—and a relatable, welcoming approach can mean the difference between attracting the best candidates, and losing them to an industry competitor.

Tech-savvy

On the surface, HR continues to fight the perception that the field is all about red tape, bureaucracy, rules and policies. But our approach to technology and social media tells a different story. Although more than 90 percent of sought-after professionals actively use social media, only 10 percent of HR departments have realized the value of related technology for recruitment and outreach efforts, according to 2011 research from HR Magazine. Instead, HR has overwhelmingly focused its efforts on monitoring and enforcing employee’s use of technology.

A 2012 survey from the Society for Human Resource Management showed that 40 percent of companies had recently developed a social media policy focusing on codes of conduct and disciplinary consequences. While policies have their place, the successful HR leader understands that fully embracing new technology can provide the company with a significant strategic advantage.

HR information systems to capture employee data and process payroll are commonplace. But the most innovative HR executives use technology for all aspects of the employee lifecycle—including branding, recruitment, applicant trends, engagement and training—and integrate this approach with existing software solutions to streamline and improve company processes.

Business Acumen

The successful HR executive knows that in 2012, you need more than policies and people skills to make it in HR.  The old mindset—where HR simply had to make sure managers followed the “rules”—doesn’t work in today’s workplace. Instead, the business-savvy HR executive realizes that the company’s existing policies are not a one-size-fits-all solution, and recognizes that innovative, effective operations shouldn’t be constrained to meet policy or system requirements, just because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

An effective HR leader is able to develop creative solutions to meet and drive the company’s changing operational needs—and he accomplishes this with in-depth business knowledge, not just calculating the occasional ROI and calling it a relevant contribution. True strategic thinking comes from a comprehensive understanding of operations, knowledge of financial, operational and entrepreneurial practices, and a recognition that HR should support—not dictate—management strategy.

The most effective modern HR leaders will be those who possess—or are willing to learn—these three attributes to take HR from being a regulator of organisational process to a driver of organisational change.

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There are few topics that can get HR managers debating like a discussion on the future of resumes. Some think they’re here to stay. If the system ain’t broke – why fix it? The CV’s longevity is proof of its success. Others, desperate for change, call that stagnation. After all, they argue, why hasn’t new technology been utilized to improve processes that are far from ideal? As Bradley Gauthier succinctly puts it, it is absolutely impossible to learn about someone from a single piece of paper.

Jobseekers, fuelled by the context of fierce competition, are also debating the use of a resume. In a piece on virtual job hunting, the BBC’s technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, emphasizes that “until recently, the process of seeking a job followed a familiar routine…now though, those who want to stand out in a crowded job market are resorting to more sophisticated approaches.”

The truth is that the status quo has few friends on either side of the coin. As such, there have been several general proposals to reinvent the job application process. Without naming names, let’s examine and assess the options…

Click here to continue reading, and let me know your thoughts!

The answer is 5.5 million. And if you include those who regularly spend part of the year living abroad, we’re closing in on 6 million.

And the Institute for Public Policy Research, which supplied the statistics, is forecasting the number to steadily increase by the year.

So that’s a remarkable one in 10 of us.

A large proportion of our jet-setting friends are professionals who have been lured abroad. Why? Reasons why an overseas assignment may look tempting range from the more pragmatic offer of a better job, to a more general desire to indulge in some wanderlust. But there’s no denying that in today’s job market, a candidate scores major points for being able to demonstrate success in foreign environments and cultures. Just under half are residing in non-English speaking countries. And what’s the main problem these expats are having? That’s right. Communication. Basic communication, mind you.

Yes, yes. We all know that English is the international language of business and culture; The Times once described the spread of English as a ’seismic event in our species’ history’. Others haven’t been as moderate, describing the language’s growth as ’linguistic imperialism’.

And for those of us blessed to enjoy English as our mother tongue, we’re quite chuffed, aren’t we? We know we can get away with speaking English in any country in the world. And if they can’t understand us, that’s their deficiency, I’m afraid!

A recent EU study showed the UK nearly at the bottom of the pile regarding conversational knowledge of non-mother tongue languages (saved from total disgrace by our immigrant population, I assume). And our interest is quickly waning. In 1997, 71% of England’s GCSE pupils took a foreign language; last year the rate was down to 44%. Our professional ambassadors may be enjoying this lingual upper-hand in foreign lands, but this national indolence and condescension is at our own expense. As long as our engagement with the non-English speaking world is one-sided, we can expect our business relationships to remain superficial. However, research from Cardiff Business School suggests improving languages could add an extra £21bn to the UK economy.

One of our clients, Anne Murphy, who is a director at Delegate Recruitment, recently travelled to an international job fair in the Netherlands. She mentioned how astounded she was to having become accustomed to meeting candidates who spoke up to six languages.

Innovate CV has previously argued that our education system isn’t adequately preparing our youth for the local job market. All the more should we be concerned for the growing international segment.

At the very least, successful candidates who are preparing for their overseas assignments need to be briefed how to ’internationalise’ their English. For example:

1. Use plain English. Goodbye slang.
2. Give clear explanations.
3. Always go through processes fully, slowly, methodically and logically.
4. Speak slightly above your listener’s level of English.

International recruiters cannot afford to underestimate multilingual candidates, to the immediate benefit of their clients – and to the long-term benefit of our very own economy.

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After all, 88% of employers think it’s the number one source for quality hires. 82% of employers reckon referral programs have the best ROI. (source)

The question is, how to make your employee referral program work better? It’s estimated that anywhere between 15% and 30% of employees have referral programs to thank for their current position –  so how do you lift that number?

Social media has impacted the way we recruit – or at least it should have.  An ERP that doesn’t utilise social media isn’t making the impact it potentially could.  Social media should be the oracle of employer referrals.

Bill Boorman made the point well, to Recruiter magazine:

“Nearly everybody you are connected with has an average of 130 Facebook friends, 220 LinkedIn connections and about 20 per cent cross over – so a reach of 300 connections on average.”

Let’s say that you’re a company with 100 employees. When you pool everyone’s connections together, based on Bill’s stats, that translates to relatively easy direct  access to over 20,000 potential employees which doesn’t even take into account Twitter, and its 100 million active users.

The inevitable question is, how to encourage employees to use their social media accounts to for the good of their employer.

Incentives – Well executed incentives (financial and otherwise) provide the impetus employees often need. Incentives could be the difference between an employee having a quick think and good think.

Making the company a great place to work – It’s no secret that happy employees are referring employees. And the happier they are, the less incentive they would need.

Internal Marketing – Don’t just let you staff know about your ERP, get them excited about it! Be warned though, it’s a fine line between educating and annoying.

Simply the rules and regulations – no one has the time (you hope!) or patience to read through endless fine print. You need rules – just make sure that they’re clear and simple.

How do you actually get your employees to use their social media accounts to share openings? What’s the process?

And here’s where many fall. We’ve all seen the clumsy and vague messages that read something like: “Anyone looking for a job in _____ – we’re hiring! Let me know if you’re interested!”

These messages rarely work:

Vague descriptions – Candidates, especially passive candidates, definitely need a link to the job description before they’re even considering getting in touch some someone.

Too casual – Your brand image is at stake here. A blasé approach to job referrals could paint an image of a blasé working culture.  Even if you have a casual corporate style, you don’t want to come across as an amateur recruiter.

Besides, how many staff will even take the initiative to squeeze a job description into a tweet or post? It takes time, it takes thought, and they’re too busy.

Innovate CV’s corporate solution makes it easy for employees to professionally share exactly what jobs are available. And it only takes two steps.

1. Employees can easily access  the list of latest vacancies

2. Employees use the sharing buttons to share a link to the application process via:

Facebook – Post to an employee’s wall, or as a direct message

LinkedIn – As a public update, as a private message to a contact, or even post to a group

Twitter – A customisable message to appear on an employees’ feeds

Employers will have easy automatic access to their contacts. Sure, they can use the shotgun approach, or carefully comb through their contacts for a more targeted strategy. Or both.

And of course, everything’s absolutely trackable.

Make the referral process open, and make it easy – and your employees will get busy. Find out more.

But when 27% of companies can’t find graduates with the qualities and skills they’re looking for, a struggling economy doesn’t necessarily deserve all the blame. Students need to know how to sell themselves, and it’s our industry that may need to teach them how.

Humanities grads have the biggest challenge, easily over-represented at job centres or in menial jobs. And no wonder; they’ve never been taught how to sell the skills they’ve developed throughout their academic experience. It becomes too easy to brush them and their CVs aside. After all, the client is looking for an analyst – not an art critic.

Recruiters aren’t career councillors. But a quality recruiter identifies talent by  moving the focus from what the candidate ‘does’, to what the candidate is capable of doing.

Most of these grads have been taught how to learn, communicate, creatively analyse problems, and reach reasoned conclusions. While they may not know the context or language of, say, the business world, they can be intelligent and flexible enough to quickly pick things up. Perhaps they’ve also been active in their universities’ extra-curricular scenes honing their workplace skills.

No doubt, our country’s education system needs a shakeup, but that’s not happening anytime soon. Let’s be daring and work with what we have – it takes investment, but the rewards are waiting.

But one question: why do we feel compelled to choose only one trend? The companies that place top talent will utilize a strategy that takes advantage of all of the above – and more.  This was the message at July’s truBoston, a leg in the famous unconference organized by Bill Boorman, which attracted sorry people like me who think it’s actually exciting trying to make the recruitment process work better. The discussion was, well, awesome – no idea was wrong. We listened, we shared, and every one of us walked away with a richer knowledge base.

Let’s address each hot-topic, and see how they’re continuing to gain traction in the coming year. Or not.

(Carry on reading my thoughts at over at Recruiter.com!)

This past July, I met an old school friend for lunch at an unassuming Italian restaurant. As we followed the waiter to our table, we were continuing our discussion about New York summers.

Not a minute passed before our waiter delivered us a large ice-cube jammed jug of ice-cold water. As she thanked our smiling waiter, my friend’s tone suggested that even she – a regular – wasn’t expecting this welcome surprise.

And then it hit me. The waiter must have heard me mention that I find New York summers very humid. Full marks. But it wasn’t his hearing skills that impressed me…it was his listening skills.

It’s been said that we are so busy making sure that people hear what we have to say, that we have forgotten how to listen. When my waiter analysed and responded to a message that I was communicating, even unknowingly, he demonstrated the power of active listening in hospitality.

The hospitality industry is essentially built on customer sensitivity. The hospitality establishment that can best be sensitive to my specific needs is a step ahead of their competition. And as our waiter taught us, listening is the best way to ascertain my needs.

People working in hospitality are constantly hearing all day. They hear from customers. They hear from their team members. They hear problems that they have to fix. They hear opportunities that they have to take advantage of. And the clock is ticking.

But behind the noise are vital messages. Quality Listening gives staff the opportunity to effectively deal with situation at hand, and take action.

While effective listening can be taught, it’s a difficult process. As such, employers need to be able to identify the skill, or lack there-of, during the interview process. This means knowing what to look for (observing) and asking the right questions.

OBSERVE

Attentive

Be mindful if the candidate’s eyes are constantly drifting towards distractions, such as a window or decorations, or if they appear lost in their own thoughts. If a candidate can’t focus during a job interview, there’s little chance they’ll be able to pay full attention to a customer or team member.

Attentive candidates maintain eye contact, sit still, and make ‘interest noises’ – “uh-hu”, “yes”, “I see…”. Such candidates will naturally be able to develop a far greater repoire with people.

Outward focused

Does your candidate talk too much? This may be triggered by a natural inability to effectively listen to others. Often, people bypass a “frustration” of having to listen by dominating a conversation. Also, such ‘inward’ candidates have a high tendency to cut their interviewers off mid-sentence. It’s not enthusiasm; it’s poor listening.

Outward focused candidates ask relative questions. After all, they’re naturally interested in hear what you – and customers – have to say.

Capable of assimilating information

Quality candidates don’t only hear words, they listen to what’s being said.

Listening requires processing what has been said, and thought to ensure a clear understanding of what is meant. Listening is knowing what the other person means when they say something.

Candidates that pause before they deliver a thoughtful response demonstrate that they have listened to your question and have digested the relevant information. Another positive sign is when candidates confirm that they’ve understood you by summarising or rephrasing your statements.

Reading “between the lines” is a superb demonstration of active listening. During an interview, a listening candidate may become aware of an interviewer’s key concerns by paying attention to lines of questioning or usage of particular words. When a candidate takes the initiative to address any underlying issues, an interview can be assured that they’re a truly effective listener.

ASKING

Interview questions that address listening skills include:

• Tell me about a time when you were serving a customer and had to read between the lines to find out what was important to that customer.
• Tell me about a time when listening skills really paid off for you when you were serving a customer
• Are you capable of getting to the bottom of a situation, when someone is incapable of communicating what they really mean? If so, how do you achieve this?
• Relate an occasion when you withheld your own opinion, and tried to obtain the opinion of others.

When my waiter heard my comment, but listened to my message, I knew that that restaurant’s owners valued the skill of listening, and by natural extension, customer experience. I wasn’t let down, and I’ll most certainly be back.

How do you value and determine candidates’ listening skills?

Ryan Garman is Business Development Manager at Innovate CV. When he’s not eating out at restaurants and coffee shops, he’s improving the way they hire. http://www.innovatecv.com/corporate

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