• Workforce Therapy Files

  • By: Jim Ray
  • Podcast
Workforce Therapy Files By cover art

Workforce Therapy Files

By: Jim Ray
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  • Summary

  • This podcast is designed for business leaders and human resource professionals who are challenged with expanding their workforce. Workforce Therapy Files, an Employer Solutions Podcast, is hosted by 3 separate business owners who operate in the staffing and human resources space. They'll provide perspectives, tips and advice (along with a little humor) to help you prepare for and manage your workforce challenges. Need Help Supporting Your Company’s Recruiting and Staffing Goals? We’re here to help. You can contact us via our individual websites, depending on your specific needs or questions: • Jamie Swaim, SPHR – www.ParcelKnows.com • Molley Ricketts – www.IncipioWorks.com • Jason Heflin – www.CrowdSouth.com We hope you find it insightful and helpful. Thank you for listening!
    2023
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Episodes
  • The 5 Currencies of Work with Dr. Brad Shuck

    The 5 Currencies of Work with Dr. Brad Shuck
    May 23 2024
    File 16: In today’s file, the team welcomes Dr. Brad Shuck to the podcast. He is a researcher at the University of Louisville and a co-founder of OrgVitals, a data analytics platform. The team has mentioned OrgVitals in previous episodes. According to the website, it’s “the only solution that correlates and tracks organizational performance to employee wellbeing and culture, and then maps this across your organization for you to see the impact across relationships.” It’s going to be a terrific discussion! What is OrgVitals? Brad co-founded OrgVitals with Charley Miller and Kristina Rodriguez. They take data that may have been overlooked/ignored and they bring life to it. The team helps leaders proactively put data into action. Brad developed some intellectual property assets as a researcher at the University of Louisville. Some of that IP is integral to the capabilities OrgVitals offers. They are exploring ways to leverage AI along with the other data-driven insights provided to clients of OrgVitals. What Size Company Would Use OrgVitals? The target market is evolving. Initially, they worked with small to medium-size companies. However, over the past 12 months, they’ve also begun working with enterprise-size companies. The size of the client’s organization is fairly agnostic when it comes to the opportunity and value it can derive from leveraging the innovative approaches to insights provided by OrgVitals and its data analytics. They are literally creating “the future of work.” What Is Happening in the Workplace Today? Molley asks a broad question. It’s one Brad talks about a lot these days. There are significant trends and changes impacting the workplace, some might say, like never before. As the evolution picks up speed, it can be unsettling for some leaders and their respective organizations. In reality, there’s no going back. It’s time to adapt. As Brad comments, “There’s really no putting toothpaste back into the tube.” The key is to recognize what’s happened or changed and then to take action on those changes. Jason aligns Brad’s explanation with how we deal with other situations. Namely, we need to focus on being present, here and now. Molley comments on how leaders may wish some things could return to the relative calm of previous cycles, and yet enjoy the innovation and forward thinking of today. It requires a fine balance if leaders are going to continue to grow themselves and those who make up their organizations. Dealing with Advancements in AI Brad is excited by the changes and possibilities new technology is opening up for us. He admits there needs to be a define ethics around the use of artificial intelligence, as well as some limits put into place as safeguards. Nonetheless, he disagrees with those who assume AI will eventually put them out of a job. As an example, Brad relates a conversation with another tech pioneer. Think of the efficiencies we’ve benefitted from due to the invention of the assembly line. It’s produced stronger numbers, while ensuring the price to the consumer was much less than it would be, if cars were still hand-crafted. People were worried about job-displacement when assembly lines were first introduced. In reality the demand for automobiles surged, leading to an increased demand for workers and those with more advanced skills. Brad sees the same types of trends developing, as AI begins to take hold. In his opinion, it’s going to be a terrific revolution. The group discusses how AI will foster more time for focusing on communication and interpersonal connections, rather than focusing on mundane tasks. It’ll provide more time for developing relationships. How We Communicate Will Change Brad explains how he sees AI impacting how we communicate. Just watch how differently your children communicate with their friends compared to how you did it years ago. The adoption of technology has significantly impacted communication styles and capabilities. The world is much different today. It’s important that we are willing to embrace the changes. We need to help others to learn/develop that skill, as we move toward a more connected future. The Importance of Wellness & the Currencies of Work Jamie transitions into Brad’s views about how wellness impacts your overall health. The OrgVitals team has written various articles on this topic. She asks Brad to describe what he views as the currencies of work. They aren’t what we might traditionally imagine. Brad defines a currency of work as something that is moving the needle on motivation, engagement, creativity and innovation. It’s a driving force, in the workplace, right now. OrgVitals has compiled comments and observations from thousands of people who are describing their experiences at work. This data has been distilled down and cross-referenced with other data Brad’s done as a University ...
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    45 mins
  • The 5 Golden Rules of Recruiting Campaigns

    The 5 Golden Rules of Recruiting Campaigns
    Apr 24 2024
    File 15: In today’s file, the team is going to focus on how to plan and execute effective recruiting campaigns. There are 5 Golden Rules to consider, before you begin. Molley begins with some stats about the podcast and the growth it’s experiencing. Interestingly, most podcasts that launch never actually make it beyond 10 episodes. It’s may sound surprising, but it’s true. The Workforce Therapy Files podcast is on File 15 and continues to build steam. Jason transitions us into the main topic of the 5 Golden Rules of Recruiting Campaigns. The First Golden Rule – Creating a Plan Beyond simply creating a plan, someone needs to own and manage the plan for the organization. When the plan achieves its expected results, Jamie points out that it’s important to let your team and the organization know it worked. Celebrating key milestones and successes is vital when it comes to encouraging people to continue with the plan. The Second Golden Rule – Do Surveys If you don’t have a plan, you can’t execute it. Molley describes a discovery process that’s needed to ensure you understand what you know, as well as what you don’t. It comes down to communication. Consider implementing a survey and/or small focus groups. Involve key constituencies of people who are performing a certain activity, along with others who have decided to no longer participate. You want to learn about the public and the internal perception of your organization. The next step is to ask the public and your internal workforce, “What do you think of our brand, as an organization?” Are there specific things people enjoy or don’t enjoy about interacting with your organization? However, be prepared for candid feedback. It may not always be pleasant, but it’s important to get a reality check. Implementing a social listening campaign is a great tactic. Monitor and measure your social media channels for feedback. This should also be extended to the various review channels where people rate their satisfaction with your organization. You can purchase tools to automate this process. Jason’s company, CrowdSouth, does this for clients. Whichever way you decide to monitor the data, you need to have someone appointed to be responsible for collecting, interpreting and reporting the findings on a regular basis. Jamie points out the convergence of customer feedback and employee feedback. Each impacts the other. If the marketing team is exclusively focused on customers, there can be a gap between what employees are communicating in the feedback loop. The Third Golden Rule – Utilize Your Brand Ambassadors Jamie encourages companies to pay attention to your brand ambassadors. These are the people working in your organization. Employee engagement surveys and employee sentiment surveys provide extremely valuable insights. Reviewing exit interview data is also helpful. The exiting employee is going to give direct feedback about working there. The Fourth Golden Rule – Publicize Your Positive Actions Once you’ve collected and synthesized the data, you can apply it to your employer-branding campaign. Jason cautions that you shouldn’t expect to necessarily acquire new customers or make a 40% jump in new hires, solely as a result of that campaign. The goal is to enable you to make an adjustment by shining a light on your business and who you are. It’s an opportunity for you to highlight members and departments within the organization who are having a positive impact on the company, it’s customers and the community. Resist the temptation as leaders to try to step into the spotlight and overshadowing others. The above-described process will help to prime the pump for the next step, which is a workforce marketing campaign. This is where you’ll actually focus on driving prospective candidates to your talent team; your recruiters and staffers. You’ve addressed some of the deficiencies, now you’re ready to encourage people to take action. Now, you’re prepared to begin a recruiting campaign. This may be to get someone to complete an application. Maybe you’re just looking to generate leads for your talent team to follow-up. Define your desired outcome(s) and implement the necessary activities to achieve them. Molley raises a concern that when organization expend the effort needed begin building a funnel for talent acquisition, but fails to build the internal capacity to manage the incoming flow of applicants and/or leads. It won’t turn out well. If a candidate were to apply for a position, but never hears back from the company, it’s a significant failure. You’ve now wasted significant money and effort. Even if the person didn’t meet the qualifications, a decline letter should be sent. However, that letter should include ways to encourage the person to continue to look for opportunities within the organization. Jamie explains how she’...
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    28 mins
  • Finding Overlooked Candidates to Fill Your Roles

    Finding Overlooked Candidates to Fill Your Roles
    Mar 27 2024
    File 14: In today’s file, the team discusses ways to overcome workforce gaps by attracting workers from non-traditional sources. As the needs of your organization evolves, finding enough of the right candidates may be more challenging than it needs to be. This file will offer some ways for you to identify and engage the marketplace. Jamie begins with a question/comment from a listener who brings up the point that there are more job openings than there are people to fill them in Kentucky (and other states). In particular, the listener mentioned the metals companies which offer difficult, entry-level rolls. The companies will likely relocate operations if they can’t find enough workers. Jamie comments that even in healthcare, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified workers. This gap between available jobs and applicants to fill those jobs isn’t going to go away anytime soon. It’s important to realize many of the previous episodes on attraction and retention should be considered “table stakes.” Basically, they get you in the game. So, now what? Overcoming Language Barriers Jason describes a scenario in which one of his clients was trying to hire quite a few welders. The local market didn’t have enough people with that skill or who were willing to get trained in welding. One of Jason’s connections let him know that a recent group of immigrants (i.e. new Americans) actually had experience welding and more who would be willing to learn. The challenge was the perceived language barrier. None of them spoke English. The company quickly realized the expense of hiring a translator would be well worth it, given the project could commence. This was an unanticipated cost, but it enabled an innovative solution to the problem. Jamie sees value in having an actual translator, instead of simply relying upon someone in the group to take on the responsibility of translating for the other employees. It’s a meaningful strategy because it opens the door to an overlooked population of potential new candidates for your open roles. In Jason’s case, it involved new Americans with limited English language capabilities. Now, expand a similar mode of thinking to enable your organization to recruit people with hearing impairments or sight limitations. This could even expand to those with other types of disabilities. Molley discusses a client with locations in cities across the country. They’ve realized that Louisville presents specific recruiting challenges they don’t typically experience in other cities. They tend to have fewer applicants and higher attendance issues. One major difference is that the client has partnered with the Hispanic Coalition in these other locations, which is helping to provide a larger pool of applicants for the available positions. In many of those particular areas, groups of Hispanic employees live together, ride to work together and report together. It seems to promote a strong, working environment with fewer attendance issues. The key is to build out partnerships to open the doors to other people groups. Jason describes how one of his contacts works to identify and hire people with autism; many of whom might have difficulties searching for, applying for and interviewing for open roles within an organization. In the previous file, the group discussed attracting talent for your open positions. Certain functions would be perfect for particular individuals, but identifying and engaging them might be challenging. This new approach is another way to find solutions to workforce challenges. Molley explains that the US is 600,000 workers short when it comes to filling construction jobs. Part of the reason may be related to how employers traditionally approach the hiring process. Sometimes, you have to think out of the box. There are opportunities to potentially automate some job functions, but the vast majority will still require a human being to perform. Small to mid-sized companies may not be able to afford the technology or AI to automate. The option of finding additional candidates is still the most likely resolution. However, how the company chooses to do that (and where) offers a number of viable possibilities. Essential Workers The importance and focus on this group of employees came to a head during the pandemic. Organizations need to build a success plan for essential workers. Help them to understand the “why” behind the roles they perform and how important those individuals are to the organization. It’s about more than just the paycheck. Strive to create a sense of belonging and community. Jamie suggests building a strategy around “workforce readiness” is a reactive approach. It’s focused on the immediate need, rather than the long-term. If you can plan for gaps, you’ll have a much more focused resolution path when the problem occurs. As Jason comments, you’...
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    27 mins
Management Economics
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