Recruiting in China

An applicant tracking system only works when all parties¡ªapplicants, hiring managers, recruiters and executives¡ªuse the system. Ease of use remains an issue for smaller firms while midsize companies are adding functions to existing systems, and large companies are moving toward full integration of applicant tracking and talent management systems.
By Fay Hansen --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
asty turnover rates, high recruiting volume, deep cyclical volatility, a difficult mix of low-end and high-end positions, and a heavy emphasis on customer service have always marked the hospitality industry. It's not a pretty place for recruiters or applicants.

"The problem today is to fill open positions with speed because of the impact on customer service at each property," says Jonathan Kubo, director of recruiting and relocation for Interstate Hotels & Resorts, a hotel management company with more than 280 properties and 26,000 employees. "Open positions, or positions filled with less than optimal candidates, can have a negative effect."

With most companies in the industry hiring on an ongoing basis, inefficiencies in the recruiting process generate additional problems.

"For both hourly and nonhourly employees, any delay in hiring caused by an untimely process or compliance issues means that you lose candidates to your competitors," Kubo says. Constant hiring can burden staff and pump up costs.

Jeff Wade, vice president of human resources at Hersha Hospitality Management in Philadelphia, feels the same pain.

"Recruiting in the hospitality industry is always a challenge because many of the positions are lower-wage jobs, and front-office positions are often filled by college students who want to move on with their careers," Wade says. "We can find bodies, but it's difficult to find people with the right attitude toward guests, and it's hard to train people to be hospitable and guest-focused."

Kubo reduced the hiring workload at Interstate by installing a customized applicant tracking system that allows direct comparisons of candidates and fully automates compliance monitoring. In an average 30-day period, 3,400 applications come in through Interstate's ATS and the company closes out 400 positions.

Wade followed the same path at Hersha to meet the company's growth surge as it expanded from 15 hotels to 54, with a dramatic surge in hiring. Hersha's new ATS launched on September 1.

But applicant tracking systems only work when all parties¡ªapplicants, hiring managers, recruiters and executives¡ªuse the system. Ease of use remains an issue at smaller firms, which are still in the early phase of ATS adoption. Midsize companies are adding functions to existing systems, while large companies are moving toward the full integration of ATS and broader talent management systems.

ATS initiation
Rapid growth and high turnover in the hospitality industry provide a fertile field for testing quick and effective automation.

Hersha personifies the smaller-company trend toward ATS adoption, while Interstate is following the ATS developmental pattern for midsize firms that are now adding functionalities.

When Wade joined Hersha in April 2006, there was no HR function or recruiting infrastructure. A general manager handled hiring for all hourly positions; a half-dozen outside recruiting agencies filled management positions.

The company signed on 1,000 employees in 2005 with no uniform process for applicant tracking and no systematic practice for interviewing. With 1,000 additional new employees needed for 2006, Wade had to install an HR function, build a recruiting process and hire more than a hundred new employees a month.

Although Wade faced urgent hiring needs, he rejected the idea of outsourcing.

"We have a unique founder-led culture, built on a foundation of taking care of our associates who, in turn, take care of our guests," he explains. "My fear was that outsourcing providers might look for candidates and pass them on to us too quickly, and not take the time to tell our story effectively. Outsourcing recruiting would be like outsourcing sales."

Instead, Wade hired HR and recruiting personnel and installed an ATS system, all within a matter of months. He now works with a staff of seven, including a director of talent acquisition.

"The recruiting process is no different from any sales position," he says. "When I looked for a director of talent management, I did not look for someone with a HR background. I hired a director of sales from a hotel."

Wade also structured the director's compensation so that 30 percent of it is contingent on meeting recruiting goals and preset metrics.

"Part of her performance will be measured from the feedback we get from both successful and unsuccessful candidates through our ATS," he notes.

Hersha surveyed its 3,000 employees, who reported that they searched and applied for employment online, confirming Wade's sense that the company could automate recruiting for all positions, from hourly associates in hotels to senior leaders at corporate headquarters.

"All candidates want to be able to go online and to be kept in the loop," he notes. "Automating the system allows recruiters to focus on speaking with the candidates."

Wade tapped ERC Dataplus Inc. to provide an ATS.

"We began the process in April 2006, signed an agreement in June and had a complete customized system in place by September 1, which is really fast," Wade notes.

The customized system takes employees all the way from prehire to three-month and six-month reviews to exit interviews and everything in between.

New hires go through an initial hour-long orientation online from anywhere they chose, which speeds up onboarding and gives them a better sense of the company.

"No one, from senior vice presidents to hourly workers, can go on payroll without being in the system," Wade says. "It's our first step in moving to a paperless HR function."

Evolutionary process
Interstate implemented its current ATS in September 2005.

"I like our system because we have the option to post positions on job boards and community organization sites though a one-step process for posting on multiple sites, but then all applications are brought in to a single point," Kubo reports. "We can track the status of the application and manage online all the data related to selection and interviewing."

With ATS up and running, Kubo is now considering adding a prehire assessment function that can sort applicants by their probability of success on the job. The function uses prescreening questions for basic information and specific questions designed for each position, and then remove applicants that don't meet minimal requirements.

Kubo is now meeting with ERC, Interstate's ATS provider, to determine which assessment tools are most appropriate.

"We want tools that are customized for the industry and the company," Kubo says. "One of the big advantages is that all the tools will all be incorporated into the system. My role is to evaluate if the assessment tools make sense."

"Now, we are seeing modifications of the technology at the larger companies, including a significant increase in using validated assessments to get better hires and reduce time and costs," says Paul L. Rathblott, president and CEO of ERC.

He also reports significant improvement in the integration of other add-on components.

"At one end of the spectrum, you have PeopleSoft HRIS systems, which store a lot data but do not have extensive capabilities or functionalities," Rathblott notes. "At the other end, you have systems that have a lot of functionalities such as performance assessments."

The goal is to integrate data storage and functionalities and fold all the components into one process that links all information for new hires and existing employees.

Intuitive systems
"Recruiting technology must be redesigned so that it is as intuitive as Travelocity or Orbitz, which we use as a model for truly intuitive systems," Rathblott notes. "The point is to have a system that someone can use even if they've never used it before."

Employers commonly underestimate the extent to which applicants are able and willing to use a fully automated system, but ERC and other ATS providers report that the flow of applicants actually increases when companies move to an Internet-only application process.

"The higher flow occurs because candidates are attracted by the flexibility of the Internet," Rathblott explains. "It allows them to learn more about the company and the job and provides them with a quicker response."

Access to the ATS is critical for hiring managers, but the system may go unused if it is not intuitive.

"For example, hiring managers cannot use the requisition system in PeopleSoft," Rathblott says. "They end up filling out a requisition form and faxing it to HR."

"With the exception of very heavy employee-based industries such as call centers, the typical span of control for a manager is eight to 10 employees, which means that even with very high turnover, the manager will interface with the recruiting technology no more than eight times a year," Rathblott notes.

An ATS must be designed to accommodate this very infrequent user. The ERC system is supported by a wizard process like Orbitz uses, with a step-by-step process for requisitions and audio support.

"Recruiters may be interfacing with the system on a daily basis, so it must be not only user-friendly but also user-pleasing¡ªpleasant to work on," Rathblott says. He believes that resistance to ATS adoption in small and midsize companies will disappear as cost and ease of use improve.

At Hersha, Wade is already approaching his goal to cut by half the fees that the company hands over to outside recruiting firms. Time-to-hire for hourly associate positions is now down to five days.

"Salaried positions take 30 days, but we will cut that in half," Wade says. "You have to get recruiting right."
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Fay Hansen is a Workforce Management contributing editor based in Cresskill, New Jersey. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.

THE number of US workers filing first-time applications for state unemployment benefits fell last week from a 13-month high that was inflated by end-of-year seasonal adjustments, the Labor Department said yesterday.

Initial jobless claims fell by 34,000 to 324,000 in the week that ended on December 2 from 358,000 the prior week, the department said in Washington, according to Bloomberg News. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 328,750, the highest since May, from 325,250.

Claims from the prior week, which included Thanksgiving Day, were distorted by seasonal adjustments that cause wide fluctuations in weekly figures at this time of year, a department spokesman said. Attention will now turn to today's report on November payrolls, which may show job growth remained below the average for the year, according to a Bloomberg survey.

"Most of the jump in claims in the prior week was due to a seasonal adjustment problem around the Thanksgiving holiday," Mike Englund, chief US economist at Action Economics LLC in Boulder, Colorado, said before the report. "Most of that gain was reversed this week. Data suggest some downside risk for payrolls."

A Bloomberg survey of 40 economists forecast claims would decline to 325,000 from an originally reported 357,000. Economist estimates ranged from 300,000 to 350,000.

The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits rose to 2.524 million in the week that ended on November 25, the highest since January, from 2.467 million in the prior week. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the US jobless rate, held at 1.9 percent.

Forty states and territories reported a decrease in new claims, while 12 reported an increase and one had no change, the department said. Those numbers are reported with a one-week lag.

Initial jobless claims, which reflect firings, usually increase with slowing job growth, which is measured by the US government's monthly report on non-farm payrolls.

Still, as fewer women seek jobs and the population ages, the labor market remains tight. The unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in October, a five-year low, and workers' average hourly earnings rose 3.9 percent from October 2005, close to September's five-year high of 4.1 percent.

Some companies continue to hire to boost output or introduce new products.

Electric Boat Corp, a unit of General Dynamics Corp and the primary contractor on the US Navy's Virginia-class nuclear submarine, plans to hire about 200 engineers this year to work on advanced submarine concepts, said Robert Hamilton, spokesman for the Connecticut-based manufacturer of nuclear submarines .

SOFT drink bottler PepsiAmericas Inc said it plans to reorganize its field sales and delivery network in the United States as part of a realignment estimated to result in charges of US$18 million.

Sara Zawoyski, vice president of investor relations, said most of that money would go toward relocations, and some field operations will be centralized in Schaumburg, Illinois, where the company's operating headquarters are based. While PepsiAmericas is officially based in Minneapolis, its executive office is small.

PepsiAmericas is the world's second-biggest producer, seller and distributor of PepsiCo beverages. It has operations in 19 US states, Central Europe and the Caribbean.

While Zawoyski declined to give a head count on the job reductions, she said it would be less than one percent of the company's US work force, she said which is now around 12,000 to 13,000, and that they would be scattered across the country. Worldwide, PepsiAmericas employs about 16,000 people, she said.

The US$18 million charge will consist of severance and other employee-related costs. About US$12 million of the charge will be recorded during the fourth quarter

Is it legal?

In preparing to post a Part III on this subject, I decided to revise and re-release this post, which originally appeared at collegerecruiter.com
There has recently been considerable attention in the media to instances of employers rejecting candidates or firing employees based on information obtained from social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

For example, see New York Times: ¡°For Some, Online Persona Undermines a R¨¦sum¨¦,¡± telling this story:

When a small consulting company in Chicago was looking to hire a summer intern this month, the company¡¯s president went online to check on a promising candidate who had just graduated from the University of Illinois.

At Facebook, a popular social networking site, the executive found the candidate¡¯s Web page with this description of his interests: ¡°smokin¡¯ blunts¡± (cigars hollowed out and stuffed with marijuana), shooting people and obsessive sex, all described in vivid slang.

It did not matter that the student was clearly posturing. He was done.

¡°A lot of it makes me think, what kind of judgment does this person have?¡± said the company¡¯s president, Brad Karsh. . .

Today I¡¯ll discuss a question posed by Steven Rothberg of collegerecruiter.com ¡ª prefacing my remarks with a lawyerly disclaimer that I am not providing legal advice and have not thoroughly researched these issues, but am merely making some general comments.

Steven asked that I comment on the lawfulness of making adverse employment decisions on this basis. He raised several concerns: that with Facebook, students often have an incorrect understanding that only other students can access their profiles; that there may be false information on those sites, perhaps not even posted by the individuals themselves; and that Facebook¡¯s terms of service explicitly prohibit users from using Facebook for commercial purposes.

General rule (employment at will)

Let¡¯s start with the proposition that, like it or not, generally employers are free to make unfair, stupid, arbitrary, and wrongheaded hiring and termination decisions, even based on false information, as long as in doing so they do not violate some specific law.

Discrimination Law

One category of specific laws that could be violated by an adverse employment decision based on information on a social networking site is federal and state discrimination law.

It could be evidence of unlawful discrimination if an employer checks for such Internet information on only certain types of applicants or employees, for example, African-Americans and Hispanics.

It may also be evidence of unlawful discrimination if although the employer searches for such information on all applicants or employees, discriminatory bias affects the employer¡¯s evaluation of the information obtained.

For example, an employer may view more negatively photos of an African American male, beer in hand, hanging out at a bar with a hip-hop DJ than photos of a white boy, also with beer in hand, hanging out at a rock ¡®n roll bar with a bunch of other white boys wearing frat T-shirts.

Tell me, was it really the public evidence of drinking that disqualified the individual? How many current employees would be disqualified from employment if never getting publicly intoxicated ¡ª or even drinking in public ¡ª was a job requirement? These are the kinds of questions the EEOC would ask if discrimination was raised.

Sexual orientation might be another touchy area. These days, it may be frankly disclosed on social networking sites without much thought. Yet, sexual-orientation bias remains and might cause some employers to make adverse decisions. In many states and municipalities, sexual orientation discrimination is unlawful, so such decisions will be prohibited.

Invasion of Privacy

Invasion of privacy is a claim that I doubt would fly. It requires a ¡°reasonable expectation of privacy.¡± A student may believe that access to their Facebook profile is limited to a few thousand of their schoolmates and their closest friends. The Facebook FAQs clearly support such a belief in limited access, stating:

Can I see the profiles of people on other networks?

Facebook was intentionally designed to limit the availability of your profile to only your friends and other people on your networks. This simple but important security measure promotes local networking and makes sure that your information is seen by people you want to share it with, and not by people you don¡¯t.

Nonetheless, it would be tough to claim that this expectation of limited access, even if reasonable, is an expectation of ¡°privacy.¡±

On the other hand, if you are using privacy features that you believe allow you to limit access to only invited individuals, as opposed to all others on your network, and an employer somehow hacks past such a privacy barrier, you may have a strong privacy claim.

Terms of Service Violation

Now, onward to the terms of service issue raised by Steve. For sake of brevity, I will only address Facebook. MySpace may present somewhat different issues. The Facebook terms include the following:

You understand that the Service and the Web site are available for your personal, non-commercial use only. You represent, warrant and agree that no materials of any kind submitted through your account will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights; or contain libelous, defamatory or otherwise unlawful material.

You further agree not to harvest or collect email addresses or other contact information of Members from the Service or the Web site by electronic or other means for the purposes of sending unsolicited emails or other unsolicited communications. Additionally, you agree not to use automated scripts to collect information from the Service or the Web site or for any other purpose.

You further agree that you may not use the Service or the Web site in any unlawful manner or in any other manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair Web site. In addition, you agree not to use the Service or the Web site to:

impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself or your affiliation with any person or entity; . . .
intimidate or harass another;
use or attempt to use another¡¯s account, service or system without authorization from the Company, or create a false identity on the Service or the Web site.

Steven thinks it¡¯s a no-brainer that checking individuals out on Facebook for purposes of employment decisions is a commercial use. This certainly is a possible interpretation, but I believe not the only one.

The next sentence focuses on materials submitted through your account, not what you do with information you learn about others. Therefore, ¡°non-commercial use only¡± could be interpreted as prohibiting only posting information for commercial gain, such as advertisements, not surfing the site for information in support of a business purpose.

The paragraph goes on to specifically prohibit certain methods of obtaining and using information about others. Though it prohibits automated scraping and spamming, it does not address the issue of searching for specific individuals and using the information to make employment decisions.

It seems a stretch to say an employer is ¡°intimidating or harassing¡± the user of Facebook by using Facebook information to make an adverse employment decision, but this certainly could be argued.

A more serious issue would arise if the employer misrepresented their affiliation with a college in order to create an account allowing them to look up certain individuals, or used another¡¯s account to do so. This would appear to be a plain violation of the terms of service.

Consequences of Violation of Terms of Service

Now, let¡¯s assume the employer violated the terms of service. So what? My answer is that this fact may support a tortious interference with business expectancy claim, but probably only if it was a third-party recruiter or investigator who committed a violation. This is because interference by a third party is required. Perhaps such a claim against the individual who obtained the information improperly, not the company, would satisfy this requirement, but that is still somewhat iffy.

Other elements of this type of claim might also be difficult to prove, such as whether the candidate has a reasonable expectancy of employment.

There might also be a federal cause of action under the Federal Computer Fraud And Abuse Act to the extent the recruiter/employer exceeds authorized access (as authorized in the terms of service) in obtaining data from a computer system (the Facebook server).

Other Laws

Another law that could come into play is the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Despite its name, this law has broader application than credit inquiries. It might apply if the Facebook information was obtained by a third party investigator such as a recruiter or background-checking service. It would not prohibit use of the information, but would require disclosure of the fact that such information was the basis for the decision.

Thinking Practically

Those are a few of my well-educated, but still speculative, legal thoughts. Long ago, one of my mentors taught me to always ask not only what the law requires my client to do, but also what the client should do, taking into account extra-legal factors such as business realities, employee morale, employee and public perceptions, etc. Here, in the face of some murky and emerging law, I have some thoughts on what both employers and applicants/employees should do, given this growing trend of employers checking social networking sites.

I would advise applicants/employees to assume that future employers will read everything you post. So when you put something about yourself out there, you can be yourself, but avoid obvious negatives like saying you hate to work or posting sleazy or drunken photos. It may help to ask yourself whether you would want your mother to see your site. Sorry to say, but you may not even want to admit homosexuality or extreme political or religious views.

On a positive note, use your Internet postings, including blogs as well as social networking sites, affirmatively. They can help you build visibility and credibility as an expert in your field (or hobby). Join more ¡°serious¡± networking sites like LinkedIn even if you are still a student ¡ª and work at building a network there that can help you in future job searches.

I would advise employers to cut applicants and employees some slack. You were once young too and maybe did similar things ¡ª if not publicly on the Internet. Ask yourself how relevant the information creating the negative impression is to job performance.

If you are going to do Internet searches and use them as a basis for employment decisions, you better do so consistently, without regard to any legally protected classifications, e.g. race, sex, age. You should document them.

I also agree 100% with Steven¡¯s suggestion to use social networking sites and blogs in a positive fashion in your search to find good candidates. Consider the whole person, of whom the Internet persona is not always a fully accurate reflection.

The thought of writing a resume intimidates almost anyone. It's difficult to know where to start or what to include. It can seem like an insurmountable task. Here are 15 tips to help you not only tackle the task, but also write a winning resume.

Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume. Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull's-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective.

Think of your resume as a marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume.

Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job. You don't need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer.

Use bulleted sentences. In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it.

Use action words. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented.

Lead with your strengths. Since resumes are typically reviewed in 30 seconds, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read.

Play Match Game. Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the keywords listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume.

Use buzzwords. If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your resume. For marketing people, use "competitive analysis." For accounting types, use "reconciled accounts."

Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If you do some duties in your current job that don't support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight.

Show what you know. Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail.

Show who you know. If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager, say so in your resume. Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important.

Construct your resume to read easily. Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. Limit the length of your resume to 1-2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively.

Have someone else review your resume. Since you are so close to your situation, it can be difficult for you to hit all your high points and clearly convey all your accomplishments. Have someone review your job search objective, your resume, and listings of positions that interest you. Encourage them to ask questions. Their questions can help you to discover items you inadvertently left off your resume. Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also point to items on your resume that are confusing to the reader. Clarify your resume based on this input.

Submit your resume to potential employers. Have the courage to submit your resume. Think of it as a game where your odds of winning increase with every resume you submit. You really do increase your odds with every resume you submit. Use a three-tiered approach. Apply for some jobs that appear to be beneath you. Perhaps they will turn out to be more than they appeared to be once you interview for them. Or perhaps once you have your foot in the door you can learn of other opportunities. Apply for jobs that seem to be just at your level. You will get interviews for some of those jobs. See how each job stacks up. Try for some jobs that seem like a stretch. That's how you grow... by taking risks. Don't rule yourself out. Trust the process. Good luck in your job search!

In this ¡°flat¡± world, you gain competitive advantage by capturing the best talent, wherever they are. In Indiana or India. Gone are the days when recruiting was an administrative activity. Now it needs to be repositioned as a strategic weapon. You need to remove the gloves. Attack. And counter-attack.

Leading global recruiting strategist Dr. John Sullivan will show you how. His aggressive presentation includes topics like:

Why "but we are different" is no longer a valid excuse
How to use talent poaching to disarm competitors
How to identify, improve and build these capabilities
How to prioritize internal recruitment needs and external recruitment opportunities
How to block your employees from being poached

Get ready for an experience that will challenge your ideas about recruiting and turn you into a winner in the global war for talent.