Four Talent Acquisition Trends to Navigate the Hiring Crisis

Andre Boulais

Last week something incredible happened. Dozens of leaders from companies of 50 to 50,000 employees met in person. Crazy, right? What could pull together CEOs, and heads of hiring at companies ranging from start-ups to $40+ Billion companies to take time out of their busy week? Simple. How the hell do we solve the hiring crisis? Let’s dive into the talent acquisition trends for 2024.

We pulled together some of the smartest folks in our space from various industries to trade best practices, talk through their most critical challenges, and to plan for the future. We invited a mix of customers and hiring leaders including several of my former mentors and teammates from Salesforce to Jobvite sharing the challenges their current companies face was insightful. I then took the stage and shared my insights from meeting with and strategically partnering with hundreds of companies. Here are the key takeaways.

Hiring is Harder than Ever in 2024

The one unifying theme across hiring leaders is how difficult is has been to hire. There are a combination of factors at play. Recruiting teams (and companies) have been understaffed for the past few years at a time when they’ve never been asked to do more when it comes to hiring (i.e. hire net new hires and handle a wave of employee attrition with a limited staff). This has led to layoffs and burnout. The increase of remote roles has added fuel to the fire where short-staffed HR teams are fielding 3 to 4 times more applicants.

This has led to a negative impact on the applicants, many of whom wait weeks or even months to never hear back from their potential employers. Their frustration grows every day and they feel more like numbers in a database than humans trying to get hired. This has resulted in a perfect storm where employers struggle to get qualified applicants only to find they may have the ones who burned the bridge.

2. The Modern Workforce is Changing Dramatically

Another hot topic was the dramatic shift in the workforce where an entire generation of Baby Boomers are transitioning and an entirely new generation of Gen Z is entering the workplace. The change is causing a jolt to companies on how they attract, engage, and hire this new workforce. Most notably is that the traditional methods used to communicate don’t have nearly the effect on the Gen Z talent pool (sorry email!).

One key takeaway is the University and Early-in-Career recruiting teams are now being tapped to share their best practices to adapt to the changing workforce. We discussed trends where Early is where the newest crop of emerging talent acquisition leaders are developing.

3. Candidate Engagement is Essential

Today’s candidates have access to more information than ever before on the companies they choose to apply to. This has elevated the importance of candidate engagement to a whole new level. Think being a big brand will afford you taking weeks to respond to your applicants? Think again. Speed and communication are essential to companies seeking to engage and hire a modern workforce and the companies that are treating each applicant like their only applicant are leaping ahead of their competitors.

Think of it this way. A candidate applies to five companies. Four of them are larger more traditional companies and take the average of 3 weeks or longer to respond (and then take another 1-2 weeks to coordinate schedules for a first-round interview). Now imagine the impact if the fifth company which isn’t as well-known but has adopted a modern hiring process, can get them through their hiring process and hired in that same time frame. All of a sudden the lesser-known company with a better process just took pole position and hired a star while the traditional companies still had that candidate at the starting line.

4. Those Adapting are Seeing Transformative Results

The good news is that it’s not all doom and gloom. I closed out by speaking on the best practices organizations are employing to dramatically improve the way they attract, engage, and hire a modern workforce. By highlighting a large group of restaurants facing the same challenges and realizing they would have to adapt quickly to stay competitive, I shared the story of, “The Bar Group“.

They embraced their employer brand and decided to make their candidate experience stand out from everyone else. They replaced traditional paper applications with instant digital profiles and applications which allowed applicants to humanize themselves and share their authentic selves through quick videos. The Bar Group used data to track not only skill matches but candidate engagement which allowed them to go from delayed feedback to continuous candidate engagement. Suddenly they took an industry plagued by no-shows and replaced it with a modern hiring solution that is now attracting a larger and more qualified workforce and hiring them in half the time of their competitors.

In closing, hiring has never been more important to the ability of a company to grow, scale, and achieve success while also being the hardest it’s been in over a decade. The companies that are looking to adapt and modernize the way they attract, hire, and engage a modern workforce are emerging while the others are being left behind. How are you handling the hiring challenge?

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Andre J. Boulais

Chief Revenue Officer at Cnect

PS For everyone that wants to see more of Cnect please take 10 seconds and follow us on LinkedIn here; you can also set up a demo and see more of the Cnect platform click here or reach out to me directly at [email protected].

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Three Lessons in Leadership Learned from Coaching Youth Rugby

Andre Boulais

This past weekend we finished an incredible Spring season of youth rugby where I had the opportunity to coach my son along with 40+ other kids. Having one of the most successful seasons in years was due in huge part to the kids’ willingness to learn new things, trust their teammates, and play with total joy. At the celebration banquet, I started to see some of the same lessons learned on the pitch that applied to building a successful team and organization. Here are three that stood out. Here are some of the lessons in leadership I’ve observed throughout the season.

Recruit Like Your Job Depends on It

Love what you do; tell a friend (and the world)

Last Fall I wrote some of the lessons learned from coaching my son’s 4th grade football team (and then the overall All-Star team). Out of every issue of my newsletter, the one that is the most-read (and months later still heavily read) was the edition focused on that football team and the, “Secret to Your Team’s Success“.

My son likes football but he LOVES rugby so it was only fitting he spent the better part of last year’s Fall Football season constantly recruiting his teammates and friends to come out for Spring Rugby. He tried every pitch and sure enough several of his All-Star teammates came out for their first every rugby season and boy did it make a difference.

It made me think about the importance of recruiting high-caliber employees is to the success of every company and how it can never be solely on the shoulders of HR. In my years leading and building strategy with 1,000 of global recruiting teams, the most successful companies I’ve been around have employees at every level actively engaging and recruiting their next wave of future hires. I’ve seen it done via social media, employee referral programs and even making it part of onboarding along with several additional creative ways along the way.

Net, net, great people know great people, and the more you can engage your employee base to actively recruit the better pool of talent you’ll have to choose from.

2. Create a Team Environment Where Everyone Contributes

My son and the team started off their season on a tear, scoring like crazy and going undefeated. Here’s the problem. He was the only person scoring and he wasn’t passing the ball to his teammates. Often when leading teams, we have our, “star players” who can dominate the group and command the majority of the attention. While that’s often good for the bottom line I’ve seen time and time again where other teammates don’t feel as involved. Worse yet, without being given the chance to shine, this can damage the overall morale of the group.

So, I got creative. I put my son in a position where he had to pass the ball to a teammate before he could get the ball back and run. He wasn’t a fan initially but soon, the entire team was contributing (and scoring) and the level of fun increased tremendously. The team kept winning AND playing at a higher level than before. Now, instead of just him, his teammates were also getting awarded, “Player of the Match” and the team started to play with real joy.

One easy way I’ve handed this throughout my career is to ask a dominant personality (and contributor) to spend a key team meeting in silence and to type encouragement to their teammates supporting their suggestions. This role reversal allows quieter voices the space and opportunity to share an idea they may have been waiting to voice and gives perspective to that dominant team member. How have you handled the same situation?

3. A Leader’s Greatest Responsibility: Create the Next Generation of Leaders

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received from a mentor centered around the measure of a true leader was the ability to cultivate the next generation of leaders. I’ve been fortunate to be part of hyper-growth companies throughout my career and one key factor has been the environments where best practices were taught at every level.

For whatever reason when companies reach a certain size or most often after they’ve been acquired, I’ve seen leaders start to withhold their knowledge from their direct reports. This can be for several reasons. Job security (especially after an acquisition) is a big one. But the reality is, as leaders, we’ve gained a tremendous amount of knowledge to be in the positions we hold.

I recently had a senior leader who’s worked with me across multiple companies be assigned a high-level project to help us scale for our rapid growth. He’d seen me lead the same project for two larger software companies in the past and had been part of the process. I let him know I was available for help if needed but it was his project to own and deliver. And you know what? He crushed it. I can’t tell you how incredible it was to see him complete and share with senior leadership. I even learned a few new wrinkles he’d added. To me, a leader is only as good as the next generation of leaders he/she creates (and now I need him to pass that knowledge down to his team.).

In closing, coaching my son this past Spring helped me realize there’s a lot to be learned about leadership on the rugby pitch. The same as when we coach our kids’ teams, our role as company leaders is to coach our teams to be the best version of themselves and to create an environment where everyone can shine. Who knows your company’s next great leader may be waiting for their chance to contribute on your next team call. As you find yourself on the soccer fields, baseball diamonds, and even rugby pitches this Summer, enjoy the moments and think about what lessons you’re seeing in action that could drive future success to your company’s team.

Thanks for reading, liking, commenting on this post, and sharing with anyone in your network you think would enjoy this quick read. The purpose of, “The Lighthouse” is to provide content to shine light on solutions to challenges facing all levels of professionals and I’m happy to keep this conversation going with anyone seeking to level up to the next stage in their career and please connect and follow me with the links below.

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Andre J. Boulais

Chief Revenue Officer at Cnect

PS: For everyone that wants to see more of Cnect please take 10 seconds and follow us on LinkedIn here; you can also set up a demo and see more of the Cnect platform click here or reach out to me directly.

Bonus: Your Team’s Success is Part of a Larger Company Success Story

My son’s team was one of four for the 2nd to 4th-grade level. At our rugby banquet, we celebrated not only all four of those teams to our group’s success but also the other age brackets (5th/6th grade; Boys and Girls Middle School teams). Throughout the banquet, the steady message is that every team grew and contributed to the group’s overall success.

This got me thinking about how important perspective is amongst our teams. So often it’s easy to be siloed. As someone who’s led a variety of teams and currently lead Sales, Customer Success, and Marketing, it’s easy to get into the mentality of “our team is doing X” and we forget the larger, “we as a company are collectively accomplishing Y”. One way I’ve counteracted this throughout my career is to make part of our 1:1s to give kudos for a teammate but also a member of another team/division.

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Welcome Kevin Walters To Cnect’s Advisory Board

Andre Boulais

We are thrilled to announce that Kevin Walters, Founder of Diversity Chef and esteemed member of the Forbes HR Council, has joined Cnect as our latest advisory board member!

In a recent interview, Kevin shared invaluable insights into talent acquisition and executive leadership. One key lesson he emphasized was the importance of staying hungry, taking risks, and being adaptable in talent acquisition management. His extensive experience in partnering with clients and delivering tangible solutions at companies like Entelo/SilkRoad has equipped him with unique expertise that will undoubtedly benefit Cnect and our clients.

Looking ahead to 2024, Kevin highlighted positive trends in talent acquisition, such as the integration of AI into data analytics and talent management. However, he also identified challenges, including the need for organizations to improve their skills in AI-driven technologies and address biased recruitment processes.

When asked about Cnect, Kevin praised our platform for its candidate engagement capabilities and personalized candidate experience. He emphasized the importance of seamless, efficient, and results-driven hiring platforms, qualities that Cnect excels at providing for both employers and applicants.

Currently, Kevin is seeking skilled and experienced chefs with a deep understanding of cuisine that reflects their unique heritage and background for his company, Diversity Chef. If you’re interested or have any questions, feel free to reach out to Kevin at [email protected] or visit his website at https://topdeiconsulting.com/.

We are incredibly excited to welcome Kevin Walters to the Cnect family and look forward to leveraging his expertise to further enhance our platform and services. Stay tuned for more updates and exciting developments from Cnect!

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3 Tips to Reduce New Hire Ghosting

Andre Boulais

I want to talk about a scary trend in strategic conversations I’ve had with global talent acquisition leaders. From Healthcare to Technology to Staffing, no industry seems safe from a term I thought was dead and buried: “new hire ghosting”.

Yes, like Michael Myers I’m hearing repeated stories of new hires, “ghosting” their employers (not showing up to start and in some cases completely disappearing) after accepting the full-time job offer.

Here are three proven tips as a talent acquisition, ‘ghostbuster” I’ve seen incorporated to reduce new hire ghosting.

1. Understand the financial impact

Just like the old adage, “The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging there is a problem” goes; the same goes for talent acquisition and onboarding. My first piece of advice for customers or friends facing this challenge is to take a step back to look at how much new hire ghosting is costing the organization.

For instance, one Healthcare Talent Acquisition leader shared they were losing 25% of new hires for a critical operational role which was costing their business over $100k a month
Another shared that every day a mission-critical role went unfilled it was costing the company $1,000+ per day per position

That’s the type of terrifying math that gives CEOs nightmares and shows the financial impact of human resources and talent acquisition working efficiently (or not).

PivotCX is on a mission to reduce new hire ghosting

2. Improve/Start Pre-Boarding Engagement

The days of getting the accepted offer letter and waiting until the new hire starts to pick up the conversation again are over. With a large remote workforce and a tectonic shift in the employee/company working relationship, it’s no longer safely assumed that once someone sends back their signed offer letter, they are going to start.

From building and running successful pre-boarding/onboarding programs myself and partnering to do the same with 100’s talent acquisition leaders the formula is simple

Ensure you currently have a pre-boarding plan (the phase between the accepted offer and the day one start date)
Incorporate a personal welcome message from their new hiring manager, teammate, or executive leader
Leverage multiple channels for engaging communication (email, SMS, and video)
Have a simple call to action that the new hire can respond easily to

For example, I’ve seen companies leverage a quick recording from the CEO or hiring manager welcoming them to the team via an SMS message with a quick ask to send back their favorite band or to connect with them on LinkedIn, etc.

The question isn’t nearly as important as the purpose: “You are an important new hire and we want to know more about you”. These are starting points to make sure you have an engaged new hire joining. Conversely, it provides an early warning sign if you don’t hear back from them ahead of their first day.

3. Evolve from Email to Leverage SMS in Your New Hire Messaging

One of the most attended and engaging webinars I’ve led this year centered around attracting, engaging, and hiring the GenZ workforce. I was joined by Elaine Davidson (she/her/hers) and we covered a full range of solutions (link to download webinar and materials here). When we unpacked the data from the bls.gov a powerful trend emerged: the workforce is at the same time eliminating an entire generation of workers while hiring another new generation of workers.

This seems like the perfect balance but the key here is communication. For one set of workers, email has remained the go-to method to communicate information. This has been the standard for the past 15 years but recently there’s been a shift. According to Fast Company (link to article here), Gen Z has three core communication channels with SMS being the runaway favorite. In fact:

SMS accounted for nearly 100% more than the second most used (email)
Not only Gen Z but Millennials and Gen X ALL preferred SMS to email

In closing, I’ve seen first-hand the financial impact new hire ghosting has on companies as well as the reverse for companies learning to reduce it. As the candy piles grow high tonight, I hope I’ve provided some serious food for thought for any talent acquisition leader looking to improve their new hire pre-boarding and put a stake in the heart of new hire ghosting once and for all.

Thanks for reading, liking, commenting on this post, and sharing with anyone in your network you think would enjoy starting their week with this quick read. The purpose of, “The Lighthouse” is to provide content to shine light on solutions to challenges facing all levels of professionals and I’m happy to keep this conversation going with anyone seeking to level up to the next stage in their career and please connect and follow me with the links below.

If you like what you’ve read today, please click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

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Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrejboulais/

Andre J. Boulais

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3 Tips for Thriving After a Layoff

Andre Boulais

Congratulations! If you are one of the quarter of a million professionals experience layoffs so far in 2024, you now have the opportunity to find the best job of your life. Sound crazy? Stick with me.

In the last year alone, I’ve worked with over 500+ recruiting and talent acquisition professionals at all levels who have experienced the dreaded layoff. While it hasn’t been easy (or quick in some cases), the majority of professionals I’ve worked with are thriving and have landed at an even better position than the role they lost. As someone who’s spent their entire career in talent acquisition and executive leadership, here are three tips to help guide anyone who’s experienced a layoff.

Take a breath – This may seem out of place to have as the first tip to experience the dreaded layoff but hear me out. It’s human nature to have the first reaction to sudden change be one of either panic or a manic need for activity. That being said, there’s power in stillness. Remember this is an opportunity for a new beginning. Often professionals immediately rush into taking another job out of fear without fully processing what has happened. I’ve seen it happen where the same person is looking for a new job a few months later. My advice is whether it’s a weekend or a week or a sabbatical, make sure you take time to process what’s happened. Use the time to reflect on what you love, your skills, and what you want to do next. You’ll find your clarity improved substantially a week later compared to a day later from being laid off.

Embrace Your Network (and Export your LinkedIn Connections)On a recent poll, over 70% of recruiters and recruiting leaders stated the most important factor in reviewing a potential candidate wasn’t their resume or LinkedIn profile; it was if they were referred from another employee. With that in mind, know that your professional network is your most powerful asset to finding your next company and role. The first step to your dream job is exporting your LinkedIn connections (request the full download of all info). It’s pretty painless and takes about 30 seconds to set up the initial download (link on how to do this here) into an Excel or Google Sheets file. I recommend sorting by company (target any companies on your wish list to work for and start with a common connection). and then creating filters by hiring managers and recruiters. For senior leadership roles, I recommend reaching out directly to any C-Suite contacts. You never know. A former boss, colleague, or college roommate could be your path to the career and company at the top of your list.

Great resource from the link provided about exporting your LinkedIn Connections

Have a (Project) Plan

The best way to handle uncertainty is to plan with certainty. I wrote briefly about the importance of having a project plan as an executive in my last article (link here) but this is even more important when finding (and landing) your dream job. The plan starts with a high-level focus on three stages.

Stabilize
Prepare
Execute

I’ve shared this plan with former colleagues, friends, and additional professionals who have been impacted, and feel free to use and make your own.

Sample project plan I recommend to professionals impacted by layoffs.

In closing, Mike Tyson’s famous quote: “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face” comes to mind. Now, I’ve never been punched in the face by Iron Mike but I can tell you from talking to thousands of professionals experiencing the dreaded layoff unexpectedly is the closest professional equivalent to this.

That being said, what I love about this quote is the reality that life will take an amazing plan and throw it out the window. When that happens, it’s how you respond that will determine your future. I hope this article gives hope, guidance, and a plan for finding an even better career for the thousands around the world.

As always, thanks for reading, liking this post, and sharing with anyone in your network you think could help them during a tough time. The purpose of, “The Lighthouse” is to provide content to shine light on solutions to challenges facing all levels of professionals. I’m happy to keep this conversation going with anyone seeking to level up to the next stage in their career and please connect and follow me with the links below.

If you like what you’ve read today, please click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

You can also click here to connect on LinkedIn and here to follow.

Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrejboulais/

Remember, you’re not alone. We are #inthistogether.

Andre J. Boulais

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Meet Cnect’s Inaugural Advisory Board Members

Andre Boulais

I am glad to work with an all-star Advisory Board Members at Cnect. Our team has diligently produced an excellent solution to hiring in 2024 and beyond with our advisory board, I’m confident we’ll surpass our expectations.

Thanks for joining the team!

🚀 William Tincup is one of the most recognized names in WorkTech with a career as an executive, influencer, podcaster, analyst, strategist, writer, speaker, consultant, advisor, investor, and journalist who has been featured or sourced as an HR, TA, future of work & career expert in the NYT, WSJ, HBR, HuffPost, Fortune, MSNBC, CNN, Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg News, Investor’s Business Daily, Information Week, Tech Target, Tech Republic, TechCrunch, Fast Company, WIRED, LinkedIn and other HR and TA publications. He’s guided over 25+ companies to successful exit.

🚀 Elaine Davidson (she/her/hers) is the founder and CEO of Beacon Lane Consulting, a firm dedicated to building scalable, sustainable recruiting solutions. She’s one of the leading voices on candidate engagement and will be a featured speaker at SourceCon this April. Before founding Beacon Lane, Elaine spent 20 years in global Talent Acquisition leadership roles at PWC, Blackrock, and others.

🚀 Kevin W. is one of the most recognized names in DEI, sourcing and talent acquisition success with a career in leadership at companies like Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Amazon, and Entelo/SilkRoad where he served as the Head of Diversity and Inclusion. Kevin brings an incredible ability to assess a variety of ingredients at a company before building a recipe that leads to a proven formula for success. He serves as a Forbes Council Member where he regularly reaches a large global audience and is a regular WorkTech and DEI conference speaker for ERE, SourceCon, Amazon REXPO and others.

🚀 Andrew Schafer has spent a career as a key technology leader with a vision for the future serving as CTO and senior technology leader for companies like Meta, Avanande, Macmillan and Take the Interview (acquired by Entelo). His unique ability to inspire and lead concurrent teams on multiple continents gives him a unique global view on key trends such as AI and the ability to stay at the forefront of technology. As CTO for Arteli. Inc his passions for AI and machine learning intersect for their platform for retail executives.

🚀 Toni L. R. is the founder and CEO of ConsortHR and has led the HR charge for multiple M&A transactions. Her distinguished record of accomplishments includes leading global employee effectiveness campaigns, organizational development, and leadership strategies for over 7,000 global employees.

🚀 Vincent Russo is the founder of Emerson United, a strategic search and recruitment firm aligned with dynamic technology and steady growth. His experience leveraging cutting-edge technology along with best practices for candidate engagement to remote professionals is a driving force for good in our space.

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