The Art of Attracting Talent, Method 2: Non-monetary

Is cash always the king? According to a report by Northstar, 65% of employees prefer non-monetary benefits over monetary benefits. Which is exactly why you need a strong non-monetary benefit component in your offers to attract great talent. Let’s have a look at some of the effective benefits that you can incorporate into your offers.

1. Company Culture

Is defined as a set of shared values and practices that define an organisation. It contains both the internal, as well as external  practices that are a part of its public image. If your company has a well defined culture, then you are more likely to attract top talent that prioritises those values. Here are some things to focus on while developing company culture.

1.a Write good job descriptions

A job description is one of the important documents a candidate sees and has the most impact in attracting great talent. Make sure that the job description is clearly written, accurately describing the duties and responsibilities of the job, required skills, experience and qualifications, and most importantly the compensation package and benefits.
Here is an example of a poorly written job description:

1.b Easy application process
You have to avoid friction as much as possible while creating an application form. Endless data points and multiple page interview forms are not ideal in attracting great talent. An easy and straightforward application process can help to improve the candidate experience. This makes the candidates feel veiled and appreciated. Other benefits of having a simplified application process is time saving, improved accuracy, and increased application satisfaction. Take a look at how TESLA accepts candidate applications for their top roles:

1.c Updated Employee Value Proposition
An EVP or Employee Value Proposition is a document outlining the set of associations and offerings provided by a company in return for the skills, capabilities and experiences an employee brings to the organisation.
An updated EVP differentiates you from other companies and makes it clear for candidates and gives them reasons to join their company. It is an effective way to attract top talent.

1.d Be intentional with hiring process
Recently we have seen mass layoffs in major companies. Even though people are blaming the recession, companies are to be blamed up to an extent. A lot of hiring is done without long term consideration or without being intentional. Apple is a great company that does intentional hiring and avoids headlines on layoffs. You need not be Apple to do intentional hiring. Anyone can be intentional if they put in some time to analyse their business and requirements. Some of the other benefits are better candidate fit, improved employee engagement, increased diversity, better brand image and better decision making.

1.e Employee reviews
Once a candidate is aware of an opening in a specific company, they always check for employee reviews on popular websites like Glassdoor, ambitionbox, etc to understand what the current and former employees are talking about their experience working for a company. Since these reviews are transparent and anyone can write them, candidates rely heavily on them. So it is important to have employee reviews either on popular websites and on company pages. Other benefits are improved company culture, engagement and retention.

1.f Showcasing diversity
Diversity makes a company stronger. It brings a lot of perspectives and experience which is ideal for innovations and engagement. Workplace diversity is a fundamental factor in attracting and retaining top talent. The more diverse your workplace is, the more likely you are to attract the top talent. Apart from attracting a diverse pool of applicants, it also helps company reputation, employee satisfaction, and better business performance.

2. Company Reputation
The first deciding factor for a potential candidate while applying to an open role is the perception of a company. A positive and credible reputation is important to develop, to make it attractive for candidates to join your company.

3. Personal Relationships
People are at the heart of any company and it is crucial to manage talent relationships early on. Traditionally, companies do not go beyond recruitment and onboarding which is why candidates feel isolated and less engaged. Other benefits of managing personal relationships are improved referrals, brand advocacy, trust and networking.

4. Employee Fulfilment
According to TeamStage, only 12% of employees actually quit for more money. But companies think otherwise. Even though employee fulfilment sounds personal, it is one of the reasons why top talent leaves an organisation. There are cases where employee engagement is high but organisations are unable to retain talent – which is usually a result of Employee fulfilment. Let your employees know that their work is impacting positively, and provide growth opportunities aligning with their personal goals. Here are other ways to improve employee fulfilment:

4.a Rewards & Recognition
Rewards & recognition, also known as R&R, is acknowledging outstanding performance and hard work in order to motivate employees using monetary and non-monetary techniques.

4.b Monitoring employee engagement & burnout
Burnout is a mental condition where an employee feels disconnected or tired from their professional life. And engagement is the attachment they have to work. It is important for companies to understand the relationship between burnout and engagement in order to take proactive steps to motivate them back to top performers. Leaving it unchecked might lead to resignations.

4.c Management training
Top management needs to be trained on how to set up realistics expectations and goals that are achievable by employees so that they have a sense of achievement and fulfilment. For new people managers it becomes even more important as they need to be skilled to handle conflict, changes, performance reviews

4.d Status or job title
A job title is a position a person holds in a company and it brings a certain status to them in a social setting. It is important to use titles to attract talent as many candidates consider job titles primarily while considering applying to an open role.

4.e Hybrid work & remote work
Hybrid and remote work is here to stay. Even though the pandemic gave a boost to WFH culture , it will be difficult for people to go back to working from offices on a daily basis. Most of the employees, especially in the tech space, are looking for hybrid or complete remote work as a primary criteria to consider applying for a role. So in today’s diverse world, having a hybrid or remote work environment can bring in top talent to any organisation.

4.f Autonomy
Give employees freedom to work in a way that suits them best, instead of hammering down rules on them. When employees have freedom to decide how and when their work should be done, it will automatically improve their motivation and performance and also companies can enjoy high retention rates. Clear targets and responsibilities should be laid out and tracked but micro management becomes a derailing factor for employees.

5. Career Progression
Create a sense of momentum by allowing employees to explore opportunities and constant learning. People like to move forward in their careers as the common saying goes ‘climbing the corporate ladder’.

Conclusion

In conclusion, attracting top talent in 2023 will require a strategic approach that incorporates both financial and non-financial techniques. The two strategies mentioned in this series of articles are proven to be effective in attracting and retaining top talent. By using non-monetary methods like having a great company culture, reputation, developing personal relationships, creating opportunities for employee fulfilment, and providing ample opportunities for career progression you can attract top talent into your company.

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The post The Art of Attracting Talent in 2023: Non Monetary Methods appeared first on BluElement.

Couple of years back, almost all the companies invited candidates for an in-person interview before they finalised their offer. But it is not the case anymore. With the rise in remote and hybrid working, chances are that you might not even meet the person when you roll out the offer. This opens up opportunities for candidates to bypass through and land high paying jobs. In this article we are going to discuss how big a problem is fake interviews, and how a recruiter can spot it and tackle such attempts. So let’s get started.

What are fake interviews?

According to US News, fake interview (also known as proxy interview or interview fraud) “is the practice of a potential employee hiring someone to be their stand-in during the interview process.” It can also be using other fraudulent methods to cheat the interviewer from believing that the candidate is employable with the right knowledge and attitude.

People are still trying to figure out why some people cheat through their interviews. It can be:

• To land job easily
• Not available to take interview
• Under qualified
• Do not have the right skills
• Afraid to answer questions
• Not fluent in English
• Gain access to company systems 

As per credible sources, remote positions in general have higher risk than in-person jobs to pull these kinds of frauds.

Fake interview market: Booming economy

Business Insider India reported that “Professional fakers” are charging people up to $150 an hour to sit in their job interviews for them. It is hard to imagine that the fake interview market is growing like any other industry. This is a growing concern for companies as they are putting their resources at risk. The malicious  joiner could have any intention, and the costs will be immeasurable. According to the report, “bait-and-switch” trends have been on the rise because of more work-from-home jobs and overseas hiring.

Also read: Dos and Don’ts of Onboarding

How do candidates fake interviews?

Technological advancements have supercharged scammers to attempt at interview cheating. Let’s take a look at various methods a candidate cheats in an interview: 

Deep Fakes

In deep fake interviews, according to euronews, “the actions and lip movements of the person seen interviewed on-camera do not completely coordinate with the audio of the person speaking. At times, actions such as coughing, sneezing, or other auditory actions are not aligned with what is presented visually.”

Here is a video explaining how a deep fake video works:

Proxy calls

Phone calls are always a primary choice for recruiters to reach out to candidates and do a preliminary round of the interview. But it is impossible for an interviewer to verify whether they are speaking to the right candidate via the phone. Exploiting this weakness, people have started to use someone else to appear for the call instead of them.

Eye tracking tools

The new eye tracking feature by NVIDIA on their broadcasting tool uses AI to fixate eye movements allowing the person to look at other locations. Tools like this help people to browse through answers while being interviewed in real time. This is really an advanced tool that candidates can leverage to fake in an interview.

Fake identities

Candidate impersonation is on the rise. Such fraudsters copy the bio, experience, education, and other relevant information from a real person from LinkedIn or other sources and paste them into their own resume. This helps them land an interview easily as interviewers do not verify the details in the first stages. 

How to Spot a Fake Interview and Tackle it?

It is important to take proactive steps to verify the information and credibility of the candidate using various methods.

1. Look for inconsistencies in information provided:

You can find out whether a candidate is being untruthful by checking for inconsistencies on their resume. If the information on their resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile does not add up, it is a clear sign that they are not being truthful. It also indicates that the candidate does not have eye for detail or poor preparation, which should concern you as an employer.

2. Lack of specific details:

A fake candidate won’t be able to provide specific and detailed information about their past experiences, projects, or accomplishments.

3. Technical glitches:

In case the candidate is trying to fake the video call using any tools, you will be able to notice slight glitches. Ask them to turn on/off their video in the middle of the interview to notice any minor changes. It is crucial to ask the candidate to keep the video on at all times to avoid them referring to other resources to answer your questions. Take screenshots with permission during the interview and compare their image once they join the company. This allows you to ensure that the same person attended the interview.

4. Audio and video not in sync:

There are a number of cases being reported where the interviewer caught the candidate lip syncing.

The cases are increasing as candidates become desperate to land jobs. Look for audio and video not in sync. Minor things like coughing, sneezing or even breathing can be easily noticeable this way.

5. Unprofessionalism:

Poor communication skills, poor attitude, or showing up late or being unprepared are some of the red flags in a fake candidate. Avoid such types of candidates early on.

6. Vagueness:

Candidates claim various experiences and skills on their resume But when you ask them questions related to those mentioned points, they may answer it vaguely or in an evasive manner. This clearly indicates that the candidate may not have the mentioned experiences or skills.

7. References: 

Don’t rely solely on the references provided by the candidate, but also reach out to previous employers or coworkers for additional information. This will make you ensure that the candidate is legit and not faking it.

Also read: 7 Actionable Ways to Retain Best Talent

8. Keep video on always: 

Make it a habit to always enable your camera while interviewing and ask the candidate to enable theirs. It will remove chances for the candidate to cheat on the interview. If the camera is disabled, you might know who is on the other side, and if they are taking any help from someone.

9. Randomly ask for screen share: 

If you noticed any red flags that we discussed earlier during the interview, don’t hesitate to ask them to screen share. If they have a chat window open, they are more likely talking with a proxy and you can see it clearly. Fake candidates will close the program and continue with the interview. If the quality of the answers drops significantly, you will know why.

10. Explore social media pages: 

Most people are available on at least one social media platform. Ask candidates for their social media profiles and see if they are responding to you. Fake candidates may not share their social media handles fearing that they might get caught. This is a clear indication to drop pursuing the candidate.

Note for employer:

1. Start off the interview by saying something like “We are a company that does not tolerate anything illegal or dishonesty.” Make it clear that your company has high integrity. This will scare away some dishonest candidates early on.
2. In between the interview mention that your company has fired people for lying and being dishonest and disrespectful with each other. 

Conclusion

To sum up, fake interviews are becoming common and recruiters should be aware of the fraudulent techniques candidates might use in order to cheat their way into companies. However, you can guard your company against such attempts by being mindful when it comes to noticing minor details of the candidate while on the video call, extensive background verification and social media tracking, and looking for vague replies and unpreparedness. I hope this article was helpful, let us know in the comments if you have even come across fake interview candidates in your role and how you were able to identify them.

The post Rising Fake Interviews: Recruiters Guide to Spot & Tackle Them appeared first on BluElement.

2. Access Restriction
   Build your application in such a way that roles can be assigned to each individual and they can perform certain actions only based on those roles. For example, a normal user would be able to interact with certain elements of the website but will not be able to edit anything on the website whereas a special user will be able to edit and act upon the website and so forth. Having such a framework in place makes it easy and convenient to manage your website. Also, it is important to keep checking on these roles to make sure no bugs can give away your website to any hacker.
   
   c. Secure your server
   Keeping your website settings and code well checked and secured in an environment such that no one from the outside world other than you and your team can access is a very important thing that needs to be done. Whitelist IPs of your teammates and yourself, restrict actions and do not allow yourself and your team to access risky websites. This will save your server from viruses and dangerous attacks.
   
   d. Enable HTTPS on all your pages
   Make sure that you have an SSL certificate installed on your server and set your server such that only HTTPS is served to all your users. This makes the session secure as data will be sent over using the HTTPS Protocol.
   
   e. Backup Automation
   Create scripts such that backups are taken regularly of the database as well as your server so that if your server fails, you will have a backup ready for your users to get started back with. It will also be a big win for you to have your code stored on GitHub or any sort of version control allowing you better access to manage everything in case of failures.
   
   f. Password Change Policy
   Lastly, it would be very good if you can implement some sort of Password Change Policy for your users so that passwords get updated and it becomes difficult for anyone who is trying to brute force their way into the website.
   
   Now that we have understood the steps to take for a website maker, why not understand the steps we can take as website users to keep ourselves secure over the internet.
   
   2. General Awareness for the public
   
   People over the internet follow these steps. They can really help you make sure that you are as safe as possible while also enjoying the benefits of the internet.
   
   a. Use VPNs
   As cliche as it may sound, it is important that you invest in a good VPN service. VPNs connect you over to a secure tunnel which will then handle the rest of the connection to the outside world. This will in a way give you a new location, new IP, and a secure environment for you to enjoy the internet.
   
   b. Use Password Manager applications
   It is a good investment to have an application that can create random strong passwords and store them for all of your websites that you access. This can be super helpful since you will have a big password that is made of random characters, making it super hard to crack, plus no more remembering passwords as your application remembers everything for you.
   
   c. Awareness
   Lastly, it is just the general awareness to make the right choices on the internet. Never open those spam emails promising you money and wealth, never open suspicious links, buy things if you can from trusted websites, check online shops before buying something from them. Just follow these basics and you will be safe on the internet.
   
   So to wrap things up, we understood why being safe on the internet is important, how websites can be secured, steps that the general public can use to keep themselves secure over the internet. This brings us to the end of our article. Thank you for making it this far, Cheers! 😊

Author

Ankita Chauhan

Product Manager

BluElement Technologies Pvt. Ltd

The post What makes Web Security so Important? appeared first on BluElement.