To Offer or Not to Offer: Pros and Cons of Sign-on Bonuses Post Covid

Last week my colleague, Taylor, talked about the rise in hiring incentives that we are seeing in 2021. As of April, the national unemployment rate was 6.1%, and the rate in Alabama as of April was 3.6%, almost half of the national average. With the unemployment rate so low, employers who are now able to ramp their businesses back up post-Covid are finding it impossible to hire. So as Taylor mentioned, many are turning to offer sign-on bonuses or opportunities to win a prize such as a car in order to entice individuals to apply. It sounds great in theory,

Hiring Incentives in 2021

I’ve heard it said SO many times recently. If someone isn’t working, they don’t want a job. Incentives are EVERYWHERE! Why people aren’t taking these incentives is a whole different topic for another day, but you can check out this recent LinkedIn article for reasons other than generous unemployment benefits: What’s going on in the labor market? While attending a conference last week, I spoke with a vendor from a staffing agency who was frustrated with his efforts to supply workers for their clients. He mentioned generous weekly bonuses and even better weekend bonuses.  I noticed one organization offering a

Live from #ALSHRM21: Does Your Company Culture Attract Your Ideal Candidate?

The theme of the Alabama SHRM Conference and Expo for 2021 is “Embracing the Human in Human Resources” and organizational culture is a huge part of that goal. Craig Ellis, co-founder of our sister company MatchFIT, defined culture as “the unique way employers approach business and the unique way employees approach work” in his presentation Is Your Culture Attractive: What the Data Says Job Seekers are Looking for in an Organization’s Culture. According to Craig, 75% of candidates ask about an organization’s culture during the interview process. Unfortunately, the response too often given is a singular response. It’s the interviewer’s

Innovations in #CareerAdvice and Recruiting

Unemployment rates in Alabama are slowly falling and are on track to reach numbers from the pre-pandemic job boom. In the Huntsville/Madison area, there are more jobs than there are people to fill them. As a result of a volatile job market and the workplace changes in the last year, recruiters are working through some innovative ideas for 2021. Would you be surprised to learn that videos with the hashtag #careeradvice have reached over 80 million views since the start of 2021? TikTok has evolved into a recruiting marketplace, where job seekers and potential employers connect in a creative way.

Stop Selling When Interviewing Candidates

When I was a recruiter, interviews started off with a little overview of the organization.  I’d tell them a little bit about what it was like to work for our company and also cover information about how the interview and hiring process worked before launching into questions.   I often had the chance to sit with hiring managers interviewing candidates as well.   The difference in how the hiring manager handled the first part of the interview related to information about the company was always interesting.  Some said very little if anything about the organization or their department and/or team, while