This week’s recruiting news:
Addressing the Skills Gap: The 10 Best Takeaways from Close It 2013
“Talent is the only sustainable competitive edge we have. We need to create awareness around the skills needed and invest in communities,” said Mike Barriere, executive vice president of Human Resources and Environment, Health & Safety at Alcoa, during inaugural Close It Summit, held last week in Washington, D.C. The three-day event brought together hiring professionals from across the nation to discuss the challenges employers face in closing the skills gap and explore new ways to meet these challenges.
Facilitating Diversity in Your Workforce
For a lot of us, the term diversity usually makes us think exclusively of cultural diversity, but it means so much more than that. The idea of diversity in the workforce has come a long way since the advent of affirmative action laws, but there is so much more ground to cover. As we evolve to see diversity as more about individuals and less about quotas, race or creed, we can start to value the various perspectives that a diverse workforce can bring.
Confusion about Criminal-History Guidelines (page no longer available)
Despite a whopping majority of HR executives believing their companies are compliant with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity’s criminal-background guidelines, a recent survey suggests otherwise. The first annual Human Resources Compliance Survey by Brea, Calif.-based PeopleG2 asked 1,493 U.S.-based HR leaders at companies with 25,000 or more employees worldwide whether they believed their organizations were compliant with the EEOC guidelines issued last year. The vast majority (94 percent) said they were, yet 74 percent said they ask job applicants about criminal histories in the application process instead of later in the interviewing stage — the latter a clear directive of the guidelines.
Reject Candidates – Right
Do you need a sample “thanks, but no thanks” letter? This is the letter that Human Resources people don’t like to send. But, send it you must though even if it’s painful, because no matter what, you can usually only select one candidate for your job.
The Problem With Putting “Do Not Hire” Notes in Personnel Files
If I ever handled a plaintiff’s case again, at deposition, I would be sure to take a page out of the playbook of Texas employment lawyer Mike Maslanka: Ask the manager who decided to fire the plaintiff whether he’s eligible for re-hire. An unprepared manager might blurt out, “Of course not; he’s suing us.” Say hello to a retaliation claim.
About iRecruit
iRecruit is a cloud-based recruiting and applicant tracking software application that allows you to track and report on all of your job applicants and positions. Find out more and take a quick screenshot tour on our website at http://www.irecruit-software.com/ or join a demo on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 11am or 2pm. Call iRecruit at 1-800-517-9099 if you have any questions.
