Beginning your journey back into the workforce? Five Tips to Get Started

There is no doubt that it can be intimidating to re-enter the workforce, for those who have taken a break in their career whether to start a family, travel around the world, care for an ailing parent, or anything in between like simply enjoy a break to rediscover yourself.

You may you feel a little anxious about starting a new job or you may worry that your skills are a little tarnished because a lot has changed since you’ve been away from the workplace. But now is not the time to panic, this is the time to prepare yourself for the job search some time away.

It matters less about having a career gap, and more about showcasing your potential employer how the experience you gained before and during your break can make you an asset to their team.

If you feel you’re in this situation, here are five effective tips to help increase your chances of getting hired following a career break. Take one step at a time, and you’ll be chit chatting at the water-cooler in no time.

#1 Analyze your current situation to gain clear understanding of your intentions:

Many people tend to make the mistake of jumping straight back into the first job they can find. But before applying for a position or even updating your resume, it’s important that you sit aside and spend some time thinking about what’s important to you in your new career. Consider the 4 P’s to make your analysis little easier: Position, Pay, Place and Path. 

• Position: What kind of role you want to pursue in your next endeavour?Something similar to your previous skills and experience, or you wish to make the move you always dreamt of and try something completely different and new? Remember if you secure a job that isn’t suitable, you will find yourself job hopping frequently until you find the right one. What was right for you before your career break may not be the best for you now.

• Pay Scale: What’s your desired salary range? Will you be flexible on that number if there are great benefits or perks, like great health insurance? Having an idea of what matters the most will help you evaluate total compensation more holistically. 

• Place: Find out time to really think about where you want to work. Would you want your potential employer to offer flexible working conditions or you would prefer lot of opportunity to socialize with colleagues? Consider what work environment will motivate you to do your best work. 

• Path: What career path are you hoping to follow once you return to work? Are you looking for something temporary or do you wish to rise through the ranks in your new role?

#2 Explore your strengths:

It’s quite common for you to believe that a career gap on your CV has lessened your chances of getting a job. However, instead of seeing it as a stumbling block, see it as something beneficial that can differentiate you from other candidates.

You should have a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses, and according to these you can match your skill set to a career opportunity that you’re interested to pursue. Remember all the new skills you have practiced and developed the entire time away from the workforce like transferable skills such as communication, organization or project management.

#3 Revamp your resume:

Once you’ve figured out the type of roles you’d like to apply for, and the kind of company you’d prefer to work for, it’s time to clean up your résumé. If you’re finding it hard to describe your time away from the workforce, don’t overthink it.

List all the new skills you may have developed during your break, and explain how these can correspond to the job you’re applying for. For example, did you take a diploma or certification course specialising in new technology? Did you do some volunteer work in your free timeor develop your leadership skills, which will help you to lead a team more effectively? Or perhaps travelling the world helped to boost your confidence?

#4 Reconnect with your network:

LinkedIn is known to berecruiter’s playground, so being active and visible there will get you noticed by the right people and opportunities. If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, now is the time to set one up.  Spend some time to reach out to your previous colleagues, clients, friends and family.

Let them know that you’re seeking a new role. They might have the perfect job opportunity for you or be able to show you the right direction. This is also a good time to prepare any potential references that could support your job search.

#5 Practice your pitch:

After you’ve done all the preparation, and now it’s time for you to nail your pitchuntil you’re comfortable and confident. Read up on few tips for nailing an interview which will help you confidently answer questions about your past experiences, your desires for the future, and your career gap. Remember honesty is the key. Make it clear what you did during your break and why you considered it as the right thing for you to do.Also, don’t forget to identify and practice your unique value proposition.

Conclusion: Everyone has their own career path

Taking a career break is more common than you may think, despite the stigma that the potential candidates will fill that void. Don’t forget everyone has different career ladders and they climb at their own pace depending on their personal and professional goals in life. You can also look for companies that have set-up return-ship programmes that will offer you extra support while you find your feet in the workplace.

Returning to work should be an exciting time, not a nerve-rackingone. So if you’re feeling apprehensive about beginning your journey back into workforce after a career break, keep these tips handy to put you on the right path with renewed confidence.

Do visit Pragna Technologies website for more blogs.

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5 Red Flags that you’re stuck in a dead-end job

While we are working day in and day out at our job, we all feel stuck with our jobs at some point of time. However, it can be difficult to decide whether it is just a phase or you are stuck in a dead-end job. Maybe you felt that you had landed your dream job when you joined there, but soon your career advancement path seemed to be a blur, and your skills are rusting under routine work. Finally, you realize this job has nothing to offer you except a paycheck at the end of the month.

Let’s be frank; we all expect much more than a paycheck from our jobs.

If you have been waiting for a change in the situation at your job, you must re-evaluate with these possible red flags to determine whether you are stuck in a dead-end job and plan to chalk your way out of it.

1. Your boss continually ignores your opinions

As a competent employee, you have to participate in multiple decision-making discussions. But if you have noticed that your superior has been ignoring your ideas and did not give a second to reject them without even hearing the idea completely, you are in a dead-end job. However, you must not evaluate this with just a single instance.

2. You cannot view your career advancement path

When you start working at a company and have a career goal to grow, you must analyze if the job is serving the purpose. If you have been denied a promotion twice or more, you can be sure you are not going to get the promotion in the near future as well. No doubt, such situations build up frustration. The wisest thing to do in such circumstances is to look for better opportunities and quit the job as soon as you find it.

Your career advancement is only possible if your company is growing. If your company’s growth has come to a halt or sliding down in terms of revenue, you will hardly find any scope for growing your career in that company. Therefore, it is definitely the time to expand your horizon in search of better opportunities.

3. You are not handed with challenging or meaningful work

As we age in a job, we expect challenging tasks or tasks that hold more responsibility. But if you feel that you are not being trusted with meaningful work or being handed assignments that your superior does not want to do, there is a serious issue. Such circumstances hamper your growth and may make you feel that your potential is being wasted. This clearly raises the red flag that you are stuck in a dead-end job.

4. Frequent rebukes and discouragements are on your daily routine

Obviously, you need a positive environment at your working place to grow. Suppose your superior is constantly rebuking you at every step or openly criticizing you more than once. In that case, you may not have the chance to grow professionally amidst such a hostile environment.

5. Overwork and no value for your contribution

Usually, bosses do overburden you with work initially. But if your life is being dominated by work and your superior does not value your efforts, you are surely at the wrong place. However, even if you are being praised, it does not mean you overwork and become unhappy to miss out on your personal life. If you are valued at your company, you have the ability to draw boundaries about work and personal life. Otherwise, it is better to leave respectfully.

Final Thoughts

It is indeed a hard decision to quit your job even if you realize it is a dead-end one. Therefore, make sure you re-evaluate your decision by chalking out every possibility that can actually improve the scenario. Communicating to your superior about your career goals can be the starting point. You must also consider challenging questions like will you still quit if you are offered a promotion at the same place.

Changing jobs can be a difficult choice, but you must remember most people did not land their dream job at the first attempt. Therefore, if you still feel that this job has nothing to offer you, go ahead and search for better opportunities that help you grow personally and professionally.

For more blogs, Do visit Pragna Technologies website.

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Know How to reduce Cost Per Hire in 5 simple steps?

When recruiting employees, every company analyzes the cost per hire. It not only involves the salary of the candidate but also the expenses associated with the use of internal resources used during the hiring process.  As a hiring manager, you are responsible for the cost of hiring, and it can be a challenging job to reduce the cost of hiring while recruiting high volume talents.

Here are a few tips and tricks every hiring manager can utilize to increase their efficiency to reduce cost per hire and also save some time and effort.

Offer a clear Job Description

When you are advertising for a vacancy, most candidates read the Job Description to get a clear understanding of the responsibilities or tasks he/she needs to handle for a job. Suppose you are providing a clear job description with full disclosure of eligibility criteria, expected experience level, hours of employment, type of job (remote or in-office). In that case, you screen away candidates right away who do not have the required criteria. On the other hand, a job description containing details of training, additional benefits to the job and portrays the employer brand image has the higher chances of attracting the top tier talents. 

Use of Atomization and AI

Instead of running through thousands of applicants, every candidate, use suitable recruiting software to screen qualified candidates with suitable parameters. 78% of employers have said that recruitment technology makes finding great talent easier than ever.

Moreover, it helps to speed up the hiring process, thereby reducing the cost per hire. Using artificial intelligence also ensures that the criteria of the candidate align with your business goals. Consequently, it is a great way to avoid bad hires and undergo the rehiring process.

Make use of Telephonic and Virtual interview

The cost per hire also depends on travel costs. You can cut off the travel cost by conducting the telephonic and virtual interview. After the onset of the pandemic, most hiring processes have been undertaken through virtual interview. 

The telephonic and virtual interview helps you to analyze the candidate, and the two-way communication ensures a better understanding of each other’s expectations and requirement, facilitating the screening of candidates. Moreover, you can save time, energy and hassle of travel and yet select the most suitable candidate.

Reduce the Hiring time

One of the best ways to reduce cost per hire is to move the entire hiring process quickly. If you are undertaking or dragging long hiring process, you are increasing the cost of hiring by increasing the expense of recruitment technology, administrative cost, perhaps travel cost, and other internal resources. The longer the hiring process drags, the higher the cost per hire rises.

Moreover, in this cut-throat competition of talent acquisition, you may lose a high performing candidate if you delay the final announcement. The best way to reduce the hiring time is by setting deadlines or closing date for every step of the hiring process.

Appoint a Staffing agency

If you are looking for a way to hire talents without exhausting your company’s internal resources, the wisest decision is to outsource it to some reliable staffing agency. There are several staffing agencies that are expertise in recruiting talent for their client’s firm within a given period.

By hiring a staffing agency, you can reduce cost per hire by not hampering the productivity of internal resources as well as minimize the productivity loss due to the open position. Pragna Solutions is one of the leading companies that can offer you excellent outsource recruitment solution so that you can acquire talents and also save time and effort.

The Bottom Line

Hiring the right candidate within a short time frame can be challenging but not impossible. These tips and tricks of reducing cost per hire can save you from rendering the cost of bad hires and rehiring. Reports and analytics of cost per hire help you realize the strengths and weaknesses of your hiring strategy. Therefore, you must monitor your cost per hire to develop the most effective hiring strategy.

Pragna Solutions lends you a helping hand to acquire top-tier talents without undertaking the headache of the hiring process. Our expert consultants are experienced HRs who can pick out the best candidates for your business from the target pool to fulfil your business requirements and move you one more step towards your success.

Do visit Pragna Technologies website for more blogs on Recruitment, Hiring and other related topics.

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Know How: Create Job Descriptions to Hire Top-Tier Talents

In the cut-throat competition of talent acquisition, the job descriptions play a significant role in attracting and landing top-tier talents. As a hiring manager, attracting talents with catchy job descriptions is essential if you want to hire high-performing candidates for your firm. If you are struggling to attract better talents, here’s a quick guide for you to write job descriptions.

Points You Must Not Miss Out

Most job descriptions usually contain details about the job role, location of the company, and compensation. But if you want to focus on attracting top-tier talents, never miss out on including the following points while writing a job description.

Job Title

Instead of being creative with the title, just be specific and clear about the job title. You do not need to be fancy with this part. Just mention the job position as the job title. For instance, mention the words ‘Marketing Executive’ instead of writing ‘Looking for people to handle marketing operations’.

Opening Hook

Since you have already attracted the attention of potential candidates through your job title, it’s time to be creative. Add a line or two that can hook your potential candidates to read the whole job description. Make use of some excitement to provide possibilities that can intrigue the readers.

Brief about Company and Company Culture

 80% of HR leaders vouch that employer branding plays a vital role in attracting talents. Therefore, you must make the readers aware of the company culture and scope of growth in your company through your job description. You do not want to attract candidates who cannot fit into your company culture, and you end up trapped in endless hiring cycles. In fact, making the candidates aware of the employer can help you in improving the retention rate.

Duty & Responsibilities

Of course, every job description contains this part. While writing the duty and responsibilities for the open position, you must keep two things in mind. First, always use plain language, avoid jargon if possible. Second, use the right keywords. If you are posting your job ads on an online platform, the right keywords provide you better results and visibility online.

Eligibility and Preference Criteria

Nothing is a better preliminary screening process that being clear about the eligibility and preferences. You must mention the degrees, skills, and expected experience of the candidates who are supposed to apply for the position. Moreover, do not forget to mention about soft skills required for the position.

Compensation & Benefits

Most candidates jump into this section after finding a suitable job post. Do not forget to mention the approximate compensation in your job description. Highlight any benefits that come with the job, such as health insurance, travel allowance, etc. If you are looking for a remote employee, do not forget to mention that. In most cases, this is the section that helps the candidates decide whether to apply for the position or just pass.

Clear Call to Action

Once a candidate has completed reading your job description, you have to provide him the information about applying for the job. Ensure that your call-to-action is visible and clear. Be specific about the mode of further communication. You may mention dropping CV at this email address or something like walk-in for an interview at (time, date, and place).

The Bottom Line

Attracting the right type of employees can become your game if you know how to write compelling job descriptions. Even though there are several templates of job descriptions in the market, you must stand out from the crowd. Ensure that the job descriptions are in lucid language, uses the right keywords, and are not just cold and detached messages. If you want to attract the top-tier talents with the job description, you must add some sparks to it by including benefits that a candidate can avail from this job. The last and most important thing to do before posting the job description is to read it yourself and honestly answer the question ‘would I apply for this job after reading it?’. If your answer is yes, go ahead and post it. If the answer is NO, find the reason why and then add that point to enhance the quality of the job description. Hiring the top-tier talents can be a piece of cake if you can attract the best candidates with your job description.

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A Paradigm Shift- Emerging Workplace Trends

As organizations are moving over the initial layoffs, lost business, and crick that came with the outset of the pandemic, they’re also wondering what’s next. As the pandemic resets major work styles, leaders need to reevaluate workforce and employee planning, management, performance and experience blueprint.

The current pandemic will surely have a long-lasting impact on the future of work. Companies are now moving to what is being called the next normal. Organizations are steering a return to the office, stepping up operations, and engaging more contingent employees.

But that’s not looking far enough ahead. Organizations are considering the post Covid world, but now is also the time for planning for the post-vaccine future. Success in the future will depend solely on how companies will change their workforce strategies based on lessons learnt during the pandemic.

Many of these lessons come from the shift to working away from the office. How do we re- consider our view and grasp new opportunities that remote work will afford? We see answers in the below five areas of advancement and opportunity: geography, cost control, data, competition, and engagement.

Trend 1: Removing Barricade to Talent for the Future of Work

The run towards digital transformation has changed the traditional recruiting methods which were a limiting factor when it came to talent acquisition from any part of the world and virtual on-boarding. Organizations’ that always had a limited talent pool can now be bold and consider candidates in any geography.

Many work aspects where physical presence was considered mandatory have turned out to be negotiable as far as onsite demands. And studies prove that remote work has always resulted in productivity gains. By having an anywhere mindset, a company can utilize global networks of candidates. A remote talent acquisition strategy not only attracts great talent but will also result in boosting retention.

Trend 2: Remote Work Opens Creative Approaches to Cost-Control

Should companies hire new talent or up-skill existing talent? In the Pre Covid world, organizations had to build strategies based on recruiting conditions in their immediate markets. If the talent with a particular skill or learning resources were unavailable, they had to shift their approach in a different direction. Now they can exercise more control.

The flexibility to tap into talent pool in various markets across the globe can result in cost-containment opportunities. This cost factor includes the total cost of engaging all flexible talent and not just at the individual employee level. The best strategy today would be to utilize both options. A broadened market to acquire talent, combined with anywhere-anytime learning, allows organizations to strike a balance between hiring and developing new skills with their current workforce.

Trend 3: Data Analytics and Communication Become a Survival Skill

Access to data is a value addition if analyzed and presented meaningfully at the right time and to the right audiences. The pandemic has stressed enough on the importance of data and analytics in leading a company through such uncertain times. To establish a calm and positive work environment, all you need is engaged leadership ready to communicate consistently at all levels in the right way.

This type of communication requires hard data, also needed to manage flexible workforce. Transparency and visibility to employees are considered to be even more important, and many companies grappled in the pandemic because they lacked these parameters. Companies that were not considerate about these issues earlier now realize that what you don’t know can hurt you.

Trend 4: Leveraging Competitive Advantage Comes in New Forms

The pandemic forced companies to act in ways no one ever thought of. Remote working was not a choice, but this made organizations to get smarter, quickly make work from home a core part of the business. In future, companies will have a better understanding of what it takes to run the business smoothly and reliably while changing their strategy rapidly and effectively.

There is no single proven formula for change. Every company is unique and different in its own ways, but change will happen, nonetheless. Smart organizations are looking to leverage this change they had to make as a competitive advantage in the coming future.

But now is not the time to follow the crowd. Ask the factual questions others are not asking. Preserve and practice the culture you need to grow. The reward is a future where right decisions can boost real relationships with the workforce which you need the most.

Trend 5: Employee Engagement Becomes a Core Priority

How well did you communicate and foster relationships in a virtual work environment? Organizations that had a focused effort on sustaining relationships and were open, transparent, and intentional about what “good” meant to their people will excel in the post-pandemic world. 

An employee’s take on a company is multi-facet, and it can make or break an organization’s brand on places like Glassdoor and Indeed. Companies knew the importance of employee sentiment before the pandemic. But now, the attention on worker employee engagement and experience has increased.

Finally, as organizations and work cultures evolve in this unforeseen global crisis, you cannot avoid the quality-of-life conversation. Can someone focus on both their work and life priorities in your company — for a career or even just a temporary assignment? Are you opening windows of opportunities to advance and up-skill?

Don’t run away from these questions. An organization’s future relationship with its workforce solely depends on the actions it takes today to develop a positive work culture that focuses on making lives better among employees and the community at large.

Finally: Learn What to Do When You Don’t Know Something

You cannot fully predict what post pandemic world of work will bring. You can only try to interpret the signals of today. Be rigorous in your approach and commitment to learn from what you see. See and try what works the best for you. And don’t give up looking for the opportunities to get better.

With a combination of flexibility and planning, you can future proof your workforce strategy to keep your organization ahead while navigating the road ahead.

For more blogs, Do visit Pragna Technologies website.

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Know-How: Steps to Build Magnet Corporate Culture for Attracting and Retaining Top Talents

Corporate Culture is a hygiene factor that can either boost or restrain productivity. Words like job satisfaction, employee retention, talent magnet are closely associated with corporate culture. Most companies expect their employees to adapt to the existing corporate culture, instead of evolving it with time to ensure job satisfaction.

As per the recent trends, organizational culture is one of the top reasons employees leave the job. According to a survey, 25% of candidates stated that they could change jobs to avail better company culture. Therefore, every company must strategize well to build a corporate culture that can attract new talents and ensure talent retention. Here are a few simple steps that can help you do it.

How to Build a Healthy Corporate Culture?

A company is said to have a healthy corporate culture when it rates high in the job satisfaction parameter. According to research, job satisfaction is associated with not only compensation and benefits but also with feelings like appreciation, respect, engagement, and alignment at the workplace. The best way to build a healthy corporate culture involves the following steps. 

Evolve with Time

Can you imagine how people would react to tattoos in offices just 5 years earlier? The corporate culture has evolved with time to accept personal choices at the workplace. 91% of Senior managers have vouched that organizational culture has evolved and become more relaxed in the last decade. There has been some relaxation given to dress codes, tattoos, piercing, and a few other restrictions.

Accepting and respecting personal boundaries and choices at the workplace help new employees to adapt to the company culture easily. Moreover, it is the first step of giving them a free hand to express their personality, thoughts, and ideas. Any company that follows this will indeed have happy and satisfied employees.

Nothing is permanent except change. Therefore, the company culture should evolve with time to tap the top tier talents and retain them.

Throw New Challenges for learning

In the cutthroat competition, every employee is focused on learning skills through their current job so that they can grow as a professional. Often employees prefer to change jobs if the job is monotonous and does not help them develop their career.

Skills are best learned when you learn them through challenges. Therefore, the best strategy to create a healthy corporate culture throws challenges at your employees that ensure continuous professional development. Failing at this step may cost you the top-performing employees of your firm.

Know Your Employees

Engagement is an essential factor in building a healthy corporate culture. The employer-employee relationship plays a significant role in determining how good or bad the company culture will be. Therefore, if you are strategizing to build a healthy company culture, you must establish a bond with your employees.

It is essential to know their personal goals and how that can be served as a reward in the near future. Every employee has a different perspective. While some strive for greater pay, some choose a higher position at the firm rather than a monetary incentive.

If you want to develop a magnetic corporate culture, make sure you know the hired talents to retain them.

Offer Career Advancement Plans

As stated earlier, nowadays, employees hate to be stuck in a job that does not provide motion to their learning. Therefore, if you want to attract the top talents in the market and retain them, you must introduce and offer certain career advancement plans.

Career advancement plans refer to training programs for learning relevant skills, cross-training, leadership training, etc. Indeed, these programs add value to your employees and ensure a greater employee retention rate.

Team Building Opportunities and Exercises

A company comprises several individuals, and the company progresses only when the individuals work as a team. It is essential to foster a team spirit to promote healthy company culture. You may have noticed some companies arrange new year parties or a winter picnic for their employees. Yes, it not only refreshes every employee’s mind but also helps them to connect with each other.

This tip may seem to fall in the ‘not-so-important’ category if you do not understand the profound impact of team building. A talent will enjoy working at your firm only if there is no ‘pulling-the-leg’ culture, and this can only be possible if the employees work as a team.

Value Your Employees

The golden rule of building a healthy corporate culture is to value your employee and make them feel values. Top talents strive for excellence, and if you want to retain them, you must chalk out how their abilities have contributed to the excellence of the company. You must provide them with a sense of accomplishment.

The Bottom Line

Company culture plays a significant role in attracting talents and retaining them. Most successful companies have developed greater talent acquisition and retention rates by promoting welcoming company culture. If you have not considered the importance of corporate culture yet, you must start working on the given tips right away.

For more blogs, Do visit our website Pragna Technologies.

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Does Digital Transformation in the Recruitment Industry Provide a Competitive Edge?

The onset of the pandemic has led to a sudden economic slowdown, followed by a recession, lay off, and drastic impact on almost every industry. As most companies shifted to remote working, the recruitment industry had to adopt specific changes to ensure seamless high volume talent acquisition.

Previously, most recruitment processes included days to months for the selection of the right candidate. Owing to the cut-throat competition in talent acquisition, most businesses require to speed up their recruitment through the digital transformation of the process.

What is Digital Transformation?

In the recruitment industry, most recruiters had to spend their maximum time sending mail to potential candidates, cold calling, conducting telephonic and face-to-face interviews, and screening the talent pool for the best candidate for the job. As the pandemic outbroke, the digital transformation in recruitment took a more rapid pace.

Digital Transformation in recruitment involves the use of technology and data solutions for the automation of mailing to the target pool, screening of applications on specific parameters, and speeding up the recruitment cycle as a whole. Moreover, the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recruitment has increased operation efficiency by eliminating human errors.

Impact of Digital Transformation in Recruitment

Digital transformation of recruitment has led to competitive advantages to the businesses such as employee retention, greater employee satisfaction rate, and many more. Here are some of the advantages that any business can enjoy if they adopt digital transformation in recruitment.

• Better Hiring Rate

The automation of tasks like tracking applicants and scheduling interviews speeds up the daily process for your recruiting manager saving time and organizing every detail to his convenience. Therefore, your recruiting manager can efficiently conduct high-volume quality hires in a shorter period exhibiting a better hiring rate.  Innovation and lateral thinking are something you invest in when you opt for quality hires.

• Quick Analysis

Advanced technology and Artificial intelligence can minimize a hiring manager’s manual hours into just a few minutes by sourcing relevant candidates by screening more than a thousand applications and CVs that match the job. Digital transformation plays an essential role in saving time by gathering and analyzing data on improved metrics to provide a more accurate, error-free, and efficient analysis. Therefore, it reduces the cost per hire and helps the recruiter identify skill gaps to recruit accordingly.

• Improved image as Employer Brand

Most job seekers check out information about the employer before attending an interview. Therefore, every employer must create an employee-friendly image in social media to attract the top tier talents. As hiring managers are adopting digital transformation, building a public image of their organization is of utmost importance. Recruiters have the responsibility to create engagement through the social media accounts of the company. Moreover, they can use AI to engage potential candidates through email marketing. 

• Boost to Operation Efficiency

Due to the pandemic, the introduction of virtual interviews along with candidate assessment, has become a common thing. Digital transformation has made the candidate assessment easier for the recruiters. The recruiters can use several digital tools to filter out suitable candidates, shortlist them, and finally assess their abilities through required metrics. In this way, the recruitment process is conducted in a shorter time with better efficiency. 

• Edge for tapping top tier talents

According to a study, 78% of employers believe using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) makes finding great talent easier than ever. There are several statistics where recruiters have vouched for better results in recruitment by using recruitment technology.

Moreover, it has been noticed that digital transformation has led to better candidate experience as well as reduced employee turnover. The use of technology not only helps the recruiter to tap top tier talents faster than mainstream sourcing but also offers a larger talent pool through social media job advertising.

The Bottom Line

While most companies are adopting the digital transformation, few companies have stepped back, stating financial budget as their primary constraint. However, if we look into the gains of digital adaptation in recruitment, the financial budget may not become a problem owing to the greater good in the near future. Every change faces some resistance at first.

Digital transformation in recruitment is no exception. However, the positive impact of digital transformation in the business has the upper hand. Evidently, it tends to be a major threat to those who want to stick to their old techniques in recruitment.

Do visit Pragna Technologies website for more blogs.

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How to Convey a Poor Performance Review?

With the onset of the pandemic, every business has been struggling to keep their back straight. As most companies have stepped into a remote working system, productivity has significantly risen. However, it is no surprise some employees have been taking undue advantage of it and using the circumstances as an excuse for repeatedly missing deadlines and even skipping meetings.

The annual evaluation is just knocking at the door, and it is the responsibility of managers to hand these employees poor performance reviews. Providing a negative performance review may become a challenging task if you are not prepared for it. However, it is a necessary step if you want the employees to be a part of your valued team.

Due to the growing importance of mental health, managers need to make a correct approach to conveying poor performance reviews. As employee behavior has changed over the last year, the manager must be empathetic in his approach to deliver the bad news to the employee.

Here are a few quick tips that a manager can definitely utilize to provide a poor performance review without burning out the employee.

Review and compare self-assessments

Most companies create self-assessment forms to be filled by their employees. If you are going to announce a negative performance review to an employee, you can go through the latest self-assessment and previous year’s self-assessment.

The comparison of these two may offer you evidences to back up your points. Moreover, you can also learn about the emotional state and the impact of the pandemic on the employee. Referring to the self-assessment provides a common ground between the employee and the manager to start a conversation before breaking the bad news.

Empathetic Approach

There is no end to the importance of an empathetic approach when delivering negative news. The best way to start is by saying that you understand how the transformation in the last few months has been unsettling, and the employee is not the only one whose performance has been affected adversely.

The manager poses the role of a leader in the eyes of his teammates. Therefore, striking a conversation with transparency along with compassion, provides the employee with the comfort to understand the leader and perform as a team player.

Negative Reviews does not imply a bad experience

As a manager, breaking the bad news with an aggressive approach is the worst mistake you can make. Instead, present yourself calmly, describing every parameter where the employee lagged and how that can be mended in the next quarter. You must make the employee feel valued by the organization even though you are highlighting some unfavorable reviews.

Reflect on the importance of the review

Unlike other years, there are certain differences in the purpose of the performance review this year. During this chaos, most employees could not deliver expected performance due to the lack of direction, accountability gap, or adaptation to the new changes. Therefore, the performance review is essential to identify the barriers and help employees adapt to the ‘new normal’ transformations.

Instead of rushing with a decision of rooting out bad performers, the purpose of this year’s performance review is to enhance the employees’ performance through their engagement. You must realize that the performance review is a way to communicate with your employee to keep them performing better in the long term.  

Be Prepared for Reaction

It is no surprise; some employees may react aggressively or defensively to a negative review. You must not be taken aback by the reaction and offer a counter response. In such cases, the manager must provide some space and time so that information can sink in.  

You must have a compassionate gesture to help the employee with a plan of action to achieve bigger goals and better results in the next review. You must outline the steps of the action plan and ensure support to achieve it. In this way, you can convey the poor performance review as well as build a bond of trust with your employees.

The Bottom Line

“Employees engage with employers and brands when they’re treated with empathyand respect.” As a manager and leader, you must ensure the well-being of the company as well as your employees.

Breaking a poor performance review to your employee is not an easy job, but it can be the starting point as a leader to your employees.

Always remember, employees, are assets only when you value them. Discouraging or mentally harassing them would worsen the situation. Avoid confrontations while delivering a negative review. Instead, motivate them to perform better with effective guidance and mentorship.

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What is the best answer to ‘Tell me about Yourself’ question?

There would be hardly any interview that does not start with this very question. Even though the ‘Tell me about Yourself’ question has been passed down like a legacy, most job seekers fumble and stumbles upon this question. It is indeed a tricky question and opens up a large number of doors for the interviewer to knock on.

Well, what do the interviewers actually wish to know through this question? As a conversation starter, most interviewers hope to learn something about the candidate that is not mentioned in the resume. It is an open-ended question that can lead a hiring manager to several insights about the candidate.

Through this answer, the hiring manager can analyze the candidate’s priorities, goals and to some extent virtues. Moreover, be prepared to be judged for the parameters of confidence and communication skills while answering this simple question.

If you have been searching how to answer to ‘Tell me about yourself question’, here is a quick interview guide about how you should start, what the answer should and should not contain and how to end it in an impressive way.

Prepare a Sample Answer

As a job seeker, you are expecting this question to pop up in every interview. Therefore, the best way to prepare yourself for it is by creating a strong sample answer. You must remember to prepare the response specific to the job role you are applying for. For instance, if you are opting for a clerical job, you must highlight multitasking, whereas if you are opting for a sales job, highlight your communication skills.

You must not repeat something that’s on your resume. You must highlight the soft skills that can be beneficial to your chances. For instance, you can talk about your lead role as a coordinator in your college fest if you are appearing for an interview for any managerial post. It is essential to set up an answer that may intrigue interest in your hiring manager.

Things You Must NOT Say

The most common mistake that most candidates make is answering this question casually. They simply talk about their life story starting from hometown to graduation to job. Doing so raises a red flag for the hiring manager that the candidate is not taking the interview seriously.

Another typical response that works as a red flag is talking about the problems of current or previous job. You do not need to explain why you want to leave the previous or existing job as an answer to this question. It indeed reflects your desperation for the job and consequently affects your salary negotiation.

Avoid unrelated personal story or just an explicit sum up of your resume. Make sure your answer does not appear like a speech where you are praising yourself.

What You Must Definitely Say

The sole purpose of this question is to disclose your selling points that are not mentioned in your resume. Moreover, the best way to craft a good answer to this question is to analyze the soft skills required for that specific position or company. You must be aware of the skills and experience that a hiring manager is looking for while you are answering the question.

You must definitely focus on virtues and soft skills. Do not forget to include words like ‘passionate’, ‘detail-oriented’, ‘team player’, ‘multitasker’, ‘leader’, ‘professional’, ‘responsible’, ‘excellent communication skills’ and any other character that is essential for the job.

You must craft a short script that highlights your area of expertise, relevant abilities and strength in a natural flow of the thread. Strengthen your answer by talking about reasons for applying to the particular job and conclude by reasoning why that specific role in that specific company appeals to you. You can also include what you do in your leisure time as hobbies if it helps to pitch better for the position.

Final Thoughts

Crafting a sample answer may be time consuming but make sure not to take up so much time while using it as your answer. Ensure your script is precise and concise but also has a natural flow. Remember to include every single detail that makes you a perfect fit for the job.

Make sure your script has some sparks that intrigue your interviewer, setting a strong start to the interview. Also you need not keep it very serious, sometimes a good humor takes you long way too.

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Positive Behaviors Emerging Out of Crisis

Amidst the chaos of pandemic, the business world has been adapting to the new normal with demand and supply crisis and a large number of layoffs. However, most companies are now preparing for reopening their offices as the vaccine has been announced, the COVID-19 crisis has led to significant behavior and outlook transformation during this period.

Some of the behavior transformations have been positive and have made the employers adopt a more empathetic approach to their employees. Let us look into the positive behavioral changes that have emerged out of the crisis.

Redesigning Organization with Positive Behavior

After the traumatic experience due to COVID-19, organizations have thrived to deal with the ‘new normal’ and employee behavior changes with some positive behavior transformation.

Delegation and Decision making

As the channels were disrupted during the pandemic, some companies took the bold step of cutting down the hierarchy of decision making, which actually rewarded them in their smooth functioning. Instead of waiting for approvals, large teams were delegated work to ensure fast and effective decision making.

The delegation of authority not only unveiled the value of employees in the company but also enhanced the speed of execution. Clarified work and authority delegation for each position along with 3-4 levels of reporting levels ensures better functioning of the organization even in the crisis period.

Working out with Agility

Agility is a prime necessity to keep the organization running under these circumstances. The companies emerged with agility by building up smart teams and clear delegation of work. While smart teams helped the employees build up leadership skills and collaborating skills, the end-to-end responsibility of the work was handed out to them.

Moreover, using artificial intelligence in recruitment, virtual skill development programs, remodeling performance evaluation through real-time feedback enhanced the virtue of agility in the organizations.

Welcoming Cultural Diversity

Recently, cultural diversity has come into the limelight, and it was reported only 39% of companies all over the world were recruiting a culturally diverse workforce.  During this crisis, the emerging importance of cultural diversity in the workplace led companies to rethink their recruitment strategies.

This cultural change within the organization is essential to accelerate the shift of mindsets so that everyone is evaluated on their performance and not based on their culture. A culturally diverse workforce cuts off communication costs as well as ensures more engagement in the organization.

Restructuring Health Policies

Employee behavior has drastically transformed during the pandemic. Most employees are interested in working with empathetic employers. Therefore, most companies have adopted a more empathetic approach towards employees now.

One of the measures of a compassionate approach is the company’s decision to restructure health policies providing allowances for illness. Every company is now focusing on employee’s health and wellbeing.  Companies refraining from their role in safeguarding employees’ health may expect employee turnovers soon.

The Bottom Line

This pandemic can be concluded as a global event that has taken every industry by surprise and compulsion to adapt to the ‘new normal’. It has been almost a year; organizations have realized certain aspects must be redefined or upgraded to keep up with the time. Working in the crisis has forced companies to adopt some positive transformations that actually can become a breadwinner in the long run.

These positive behaviors embraced by the companies around the globe have led to a greater rate of employee job satisfaction. Moreover, the organization exhibits greater value and better success rate if they have emerged with these positive behaviors in the crisis.

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