3 Ways Effective Onboarding Builds a Better Workplace

3 Ways Effective Onboarding Builds a Better Workplace A lot of organizations treat recruiting and onboarding like fishing: dangle the bait, hook ‘em, reel ‘em on board, and then…well, there isn’t a ton of concern about the fish’s experience after that. Many companies are able to attract new talent with a promising interviewing process, but they often falter with the very next step when they don’t provide an equally comprehensive onboarding program. They’re so focused on getting people in the door, they forget to pay attention to what happens after people enter the buildingâ€"and they end up leaving their brand-new, hard-won talent wondering what they signed up for. While savvy organizations have known this for a long time, BambooHR’s most recent onboarding study, which gauged the thoughts of more than 1,000 U.S.-based full-time employees, revealed just how impactful effective onboarding can be. An effective onboarding process helps build stronger bonds, increase confidence, and improve the overall employee experience. Building Stronger Bonds The study found some interesting facts about how the onboarding process impacts the bond between a company and its employees: Employees feel significantly more committed to an organization if they’ve received effective onboarding. This could be because the onboarding process helps them gain the tools and knowledge they need to be productive and happy in their roles. Investing in the employee, their overall experience, and their success translates into a stronger bond between employer and employee. Effective onboarding also helps employees feel more connected to co-workers, especially when the process involves getting-to-know-you activities and peer-to-peer training. These activities push employees to build stronger relationships that help them feel more connected to the organization. Effective onboarding also helps employees feel more integrated into the company culture, which is essential if a company cares to maintain its culture’s integrity. All new employees should be well-acquainted with the company’s culture and values, and effective onboarding allows new hires to understand each more quickly. Building Up Confidence Employees who experienced effective onboarding felt much more empowered to do their jobs: Effective onboarding programs should include highly detailed, comprehensive training so employees feel more able to perform independently. When employees are more confident in their abilities, they contribute more quickly to their teams, increasing the return on a company’s hiring investment sooner. Role clarity improves as well when effective onboarding takes place. Possibly because employees have a stronger connection to their managers or receive greater alignment through comprehensive training, employees who have experienced effective onboarding have a better understanding of their role within the company. Taking care to ensure new employees fully understand their role within the company is essential to building a confident and capable workforce. Building Better Experiences Overall, when employers have more effective onboarding in place, employees have a better experience at the organization: Onboarding is as much about training the employee on their responsibilities as it is about showing them all the amazing benefits of working at your organization. Taking the time to do just that during onboarding helps employees appreciate the company more and increases their job satisfaction. This also improves employee engagement, since employees more genuinely engage when they are invested in the organization. Effective onboarding builds a sense of trust and support between employers and their employees. It’s no surprise, then, that employees who feel their onboarding process was effective also feel more supported by their organization. Additionally, effective onboarding correlates with employees’ perceptions of the HR team and company performance. Those who went through effective onboarding were more likely to report that their HR team was highly capable and their organization performed strongly. Investing in effective onboarding is investing in your organization’s overall performance and business outcome. Business leaders need to assess how effective onboarding can positively impact their workforce and understand the costs that may incur as a result of sticking with insufficient practices. The benefits of a comprehensive program are clear and employers can no longer afford to keep ineffective systems in place. About the author: Kelsie Davis is the Brand Journalist at BambooHR.

Sales Associate Resume Skills

Sales Associate Resume SkillsSelling a product is not always easy but it can be very exciting and interesting if you have to sell a sale associate resume. Sales associates will need to use a good sales resume as they will have to pitch and sell various products that they may help to sell. It is not as simple as going down to your local office supply store and picking up one that fits your style. Good sales associate resume should represent your personality and skills.Sales associates are part of the team and they should be able to keep their customers satisfied. They will also need to know how to answer questions and be helpful to customers so that they will return. The person who is selling a product will be representing that product for the company and will be responsible for making sure that the customer receives a high quality product. They will also be asked to put together a presentation to send to potential customers. This is to ensure that they know what they are talking abou t.It is important that the person that is selling the product knows exactly what they are selling and who they are selling it to. They should be clear about what they are selling and why they are selling it. If a person does not know why they are selling a product then they could lose the sale.The sales associate is also responsible for getting the customer to purchase the product. They should be able to determine if they are making the sale. They need to be able to get the customer to purchase their product without having to repeat what the customer wants them to say. People will tell them what they want to hear. If the sales associate is not open to change then they will lose the sale.A sales associate should also be able to get the customer to buy a particular item. They should know what products they should offer and what they should not offer. If a person can get a customer to buy a particular product then that person is more likely to buy the product again.The sales associate will also need to make sure that they can use their talents and skills in order to help customers with their questions. They should know what questions to ask and what questions to not ask. They should be able to give excellent customer service and should be able to handle any questions a customer may have.The sales associate will need to be able to give someone new something they do not already know about in order to help them. They should know how to talk to customers and find out what they are looking for. A sales associate should be able to be available and willing to help a customer in any way they can.These are all the skills that the sales associate needs in order to sell a sale associate resume. These skills can make or break a sale associate.

Life Lessons Learned From Interns (I See Young People!)

Life Lessons Learned From Interns (I See Young People!) Editors Note:   Todays post comes from Mark Babbitt of YouTern. Every time I see yet another boomer blog bashing Millennials, I’m tempted to defend. The reality is, however, they don’t need me in that role. They do just fine by â€" and for â€" themselves. So let me take this in another direction and say, without hesitation, that over the last two years I’ve learned more from interns and young professionals than I have from fellow boomers, business books, blogs and big conferences â€" all put together. The reasons are simple… 1) I’m a sponge when it comes to learning new things, and; 2) I listen â€" regardless of the age of the person talking and without equating “level of experience” with “ability to contribute”. With an open mind firmly in place, here are the Top 10 lessons learned from Interns and YoPros… 1.   Engagement Matters While now a common thought in my head, it was a Millennial who first taught me that engagement â€" rather than mass emails, DMs and auto-responders is what sets you â€" and your brand â€" apart from the rest. 2.   Diversity is Expected In today’s younger workforce, diversity isn’t some corporate mandated program â€" or some kind of equality we strive for… it is already there, and more than expected. 3.   Work Happens Before 8am and After 5pm As a morning person on the west coast, I admit this one kills me. However, I’ve come to embrace that with the night owls working in different time zones, our company is practically (albeit unintentionally) a 24/7 operation. 4.   Google, Dammit! No, YoPros didn’t invent Google â€" nor were they first to use a search engine. However, they sure perfected the use of the technology. It only takes one time for a Millennial to look over your shoulder as you email a question to four team members and say, “Would have taken 7 seconds to Google that…” (Shuddap!) 5.   Communicate Quickly Maybe this is the influence of texting or Twitter… either way, it is brilliant! Say what you have to say â€" quickly and succinctly â€" and then be quiet. All the time management books in the world never thought of this, but they should have. 6.   Virtual. Good. Working in an office? Commuting nightmares? Brown bagging lunches? Office gossip and politics? Not necessary. Again, Millennials didn’t invent the virtual office, they just made it a better place. 7.   Collaborate Used to be that every project was a do-or-die individual assignment steeped in deadlines. Now, Millenials expect to brainstorm, work together to achieve a common goal and celebrate team wins. Good logic. Great results! 8.   Motivate and Inspire Through Millennials, I’ve learned that when properly motivated and inspired we can use innovation, collaboration and, yes, Google to solve almost any business problem â€" and chances are we’ll come up with a much better solution than we might have in the “old days”. 9.   There’s an App for That Sometimes, the solutions from No. 8 lead to an app that makes all our lives easier â€" all we need do is find and implement. A Boomer may struggle for days or weeks on how to solve an issue, a Millennial just knows… “There’s an app for that!” 10.   Sometimes, Experience Doesn’t Mean Squat Back to what I said in the intro, it is amazing what happens when we open our minds and listen to others without preconceived notions about age, generation or experience. It doesn’t take a bunch of greybeards to solve every problem… sometimes it takes a little youthful energy, innovation and some of Number 8 on this list. Those are my 10 real-life lessons learned from the young people I see â€" and enjoy working with â€" on a daily basis. What have you learned from Millennials in the workplace? What would you add to this list? Please let us know in the comments below! Originally posted on YouTern. A passionate supporter of Gen Y talent, CEO and Founder of YouTern Mark Babbitt is a serial entrepreneur and mentor. Mark has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Mashable, Forbes and Under30CEO regarding internships, higher education’s role in preparing emerging talent for the workforce and career development. Recently, Mark was honored to be named to GenJuice’s list of “Top 100 Most Desirable Mentors”. You can contact Mark via email or on Twitter: @YouTernMark.

Canadian Career Pros To Follow on Twitter

Canadian Career Pros To Follow on Twitter There is a wealth of information being shared every single second on Twitter a highly popular social networking and microblogging site.  As a job seeker you can use Twitter to locate good quality content on career planning, resume writing, interview preparation, job search strategies, and employment issues. If you are looking for distinctly Canadian resources and top Canadian career professionals to follow on Twitter, I recommend the following 12 individuals (listed in alphabetical order by last name): Martin Buckland @MartinBuckland Maureen Farmer @MaureenFarmer4 Charles Fraser @_CharlesFraser Sharon Graham @sharongraham Chris Kulbaba @chriskulbaba Maureen McCann @mypromotion Tara Orchard @careerchatter Wayne Pagani @careerdev Audrey Prenzel @audreyprenzel Lotte Struwing @LotteStruwing Daisy Wright @CareerTips2Go Paula Wischoff Yerama  @PaulaWYerama Of course, I would be remiss if I did not add my own Twitter handles to this list as I also enjoy sharing career and job search content of my own, along with the content of others. Hope to connect with you soon! @Adrienne_Tom  and @CalgaryResumes Note: I recently changed my personal Twitter handle from  @ResumeReviewer to @Adrienne_Tom Can you recommend additional Canadian career pros to add to this list? What specific Canadian career information would you like to see more of on Twitter?  Let us know!   Get help with your job search here: www.CareerImpressions.ca

Writing a Resume Summary For Career Change

Writing a Resume Summary For Career ChangeThe decision to write a resume is one of the most important steps when looking for a new job. A good resume will be instrumental in getting you interviews, but when you are faced with a choice between writing a resume summary for career change or skipping it entirely, which should you choose?Sometimes it might seem that a person who has been using an old resume for over five years would not want to consider upgrading their resume at all. However, a career change is not an easy process and can often times be very stressful decisions to make. A good place to start when planning a career change is by asking you how long you have been in your current job. If you have been with the same company for a long time, it may be time to begin looking for a new position.If you don't have any other resumes you can look through your old ones and make note of all the information that is relevant to the jobs you applied for. For example, have you been moved up a rank or did you receive a raise? Is there anything else that you feel would be beneficial to you or your employer? Remember, there is usually a list of requirements that you will need to meet before they will be able to let you know if they are hiring you or not.You may also want to think about the changes that may be in store for you when you start looking for a new job. Sometimes a job might require more training or a different skill set. If you plan on going back to school to get another degree, you may want to include this information on your resume. If you have a new hobby or something else you want to work on you may want to consider bringing it up on your resume as well.Another option for writing a resume summary for career change is to look through your bank and financial statements. Youcan use these statements to show that you have paid off previous loans, saved up money for a car, or even saved up money for some unexpected emergency. Keep in mind that a financial statem ent is not exactly the same as a resume, but it will show what you have done to try and achieve your goals. It is up to you to make sure that you are looking your best, while at the same time making sure that you can still fit into your new job description.Even if you cannot find anything specific that you can point out on your financial statements or other educational transcripts that you have read, try looking through the books that you have in your home and see if there are any books that you can read to make sure that you still have the skills that are needed to get hired. The same goes for your academic transcripts and diplomas. You want to make sure that you keep them up to date to make sure that you are meeting the standards for your career. Remember, there is no time to rest on your laurels.Other useful pieces of information you can find include any references that you have from previous employers. Make sure that you look through all of your old letters of reference and make sure that you keep them all updated with any of the contact information that you can.There are many ways to write a resume summary for career change and even if you do not find anything, you can always look through the newspaper, check out the internet, or talk to your friends to see if there is anything out there that you can refer to that may help you. It can be helpful to look at what other people do, especially if you find something that is of interest.

Unemployed 11 Ways to Start Off On The Right Foot

Unemployed 11 Ways to Start Off On The Right Foot 11 Ways to Start Job Search On The Right Foot No one who has been unemployed expects it to last very long. The reality is that you will be looking for work longer than you want. You can’t control how long the process will take. But,  you can control what you are doing to be more effective in your approach to job searching. 11 Ways to Start Job Search On The Right Foot 1. Nail Down the Basics The people you know want to help you  â€"  they just don’t know how. The best thing you can do to help them help you is to provide three pieces of vital data. State the specific types of jobs you are most interested in. Know which companies you want to work for. Communicate why you are great at what you do. (In other words, perfect your elevator pitch.) 2. Reach Out Be purposeful in your outreach. Create a list of everyone you know and systematically contact people on your list to ask for help and advice. Sending out a blanket email won’t generate the type of response you are looking for. Your contacts want to help, but an impersonal plea falls lower on the list of priorities. Personalize your outreach one email or phone call at a time. 3. Get Connected Volunteer, and join professional associations and networking groups for job seekers. Connecting with unemployed and employed professionals helps you stay active and engaged in what’s happening in your community and in your field of work. When you volunteer, you are actually killing two birds with one stone. First, it provides you with a feeling of value and worth to help others. Second, you will be interacting with like-minded volunteers and group leaders who can become networking resources. 4. Connect Online Before you begin connecting with people on LinkedIn, be sure your profile is up to date. Once you’ve done this, begin connecting with new contacts, as well as past colleagues, friends and others you know. Your LinkedIn network should represent your real-life network, so start building it. Learn how to use LinkedIn to stay in touch with your network, and mine it for valuable data. 5. Polish Your Resume This is 2014, and  resume rules have changed since you last updated your document. Do your research and consult expert resources. Once you have created a  resume that positions you as a fit for the perfect  job,  begin using it. Be sure to adapt it for every job you apply for. How do you know if its working? If you are applying for jobs, and your phone is ringing off the hook, don’t change a thing. Otherwise, go back to the drawing board. Share it with trusted colleagues, and ask for feedback. One word of caution: Everyone has an opinion about  resumes, and the recommendations will sometimes contradict one another. 6. Take Care of You As the flight attendants say, “Put your oxygen mask on first so you can better assist those around you.” This means you should eat well, exercise and spend time doing the things you enjoy. 7. Consider Plan B Dont wait until your unemployment or severance runs out to begin creating a backup plan. Start today. What will you do when you are one month away from the end of your unemployment? How will you generate income? Will you take a temp job or work in retail? Would you be willing to take a job outside your current city? Or would you consider starting your own business? It is never too early to begin actively pursuing your plan B options. 8. Find Someone To Hold You Accountable You will become discouraged  â€"  that is just part of the process. You will need the support of someone who can give you a kick in the pants and who will listen to you objectively. Of all the actions mentioned, this may be the most important. When you identify and use an accountability partner, you feel rejuvenated and regain your momentum. You also have an external source of motivation and a fresh perspective to draw from. 9. Keep An Open Mind This isn’t the same as being open to any opportunities. You should stay focused on the type of job you want.  Keeping an open mind means you listen without judgment and don’t make assumptions. If a past colleague presents you with a job opportunity you don’t think is a fit, don’t shut them down. Ask questions, and understand why they are making this recommendation. Likewise, if someone you know suggests you should speak with one a contact, ask why and how you both would benefit from meeting. 10. Move With a Sense of Urgency Each day you are unemployed, it becomes more difficult to feel secure in your abilities. Rejection and dead ends have a way of eroding your self-confidence. The best cure for these feelings is to do something  â€"  anything  â€"  that makes you feel productive and successful. Focus on the small wins, such as getting an email response, finding a contact name inside a company you want to work for and attending a networking meeting. 11. And Remember the Other Stuff The list of things to do while job searching is endless. You need to develop relationships with recruiters, find the right job boards for the type of work you are looking for, write solid cover letters and thank-you notes, master the art of small talk and thousands of other things that will push you outside your comfort zone. Take a deep breath, and mentally prepare for this marathon. This is modified from the original post that appeared on USNews World Report On Careers

How to Use LinkedIn to Get Calls From Recruiters - CareerEnlightenment.com

How to Find Recruiters in Your FieldI got an email from a blog reader who told me that he has IT recruiters, Medical recruiters and Science recruiters in his network, but none in PR, Communications and Marketing.How would he even begin to find the right recruiters to add? Here’s how.Open up the advanced people search feature on LinkedIn.Filter by location. This is a key variable. Make sure it’s where you want to work, not just where you live.Filter by industry, current company (if you are targeting).Add these keywords, try out “Recruiter” or “Talent Acquisition ” or “Sourcing”.Optionally, add role specific keywords like PR, or Communications and see how that affects search results.For paid LinkedIn subscribers:Filter by “Interested in…Potential Employees”.Filter by Function…Human Resources.Join groups for recruiters and then filter your advanced search to include those groups.In general, start off with as many filters and variables as you can. Then gradually l ift them to grow your list size.If nothing pops up, maybe recruiters in your industry don’t hang out on LinkedIn.Tip: you can save your searches and come back to them later!How to Add RecruitersOnce you have your list of recruiters from the previous step, connecting is really easy.As much as LinkedIn says, “You should only connect with people you know.” Their features tell us that they actually want us to connect with as many people as possible. It only helps their share price!Your second degree connections will look like this:Just click on Connect, and the invitation with the boilerplate language is sent.It will look like this:For your third degree connections, you will have to take an extra step. Those will look like this:In this case, click on the name of the person to open up their profile. Then click Connect from their profile to open up this window:Here, you might modify the message to say something like this,Hi Jean,I noticed you are a recruiter in my industry. I’m op en to new opportunities and thought it might be mutually beneficial if we connected.Thanks,Me.AlternativesAssuming that recruiters look at who’s viewed their profile on a regular basis, you can also use tools like LinkedIn Autopilot.Autopilot “views” the profiles in a saved search at a rate you determine. The people whose profile it views might see you show up in their Who’s Viewed My Profile list. If they think you would be a good candidate, they will ask you to connect.I’m curious how these techniques have worked for you. Please let me know if you tried it, and what happened in the comments below.