Aptitude Research
Schedule a Briefing

Tag: HR Technology

Categories
Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Recruitment Marketing: Four Trends to Consider When Evaluating Providers

compass with the arrow pointing towards the word talent

In a few weeks, we are publishing an updated Recruitment Marketing Index. It is a project I started a year ago and this market continues to surprise me. Although, it is one of the most exciting areas of talent acquisition technology, evaluating these providers is not always easy. Organizations are looking at these solutions from very different perspectives and based on very different needs. Some companies want support with career sites. Some companies want a true CRM. And, some companies are not even sure what they want. Unlike the ATS market, recruitment marketing can feel like apples and oranges.

Over the past year, many of the providers in our report have enhanced their capabilities, secured investment, created service offerings, and acquired large global customers. It has certainly been a year of change but some of the confusion around what these solutions do and what value they bring has remained the same. The goal of this research is to help provide clarity on a complex market and highlight the key differentiators in this space. With over 70% of enterprise companies investing or planning to invest in these solutions this year, we want to share some of the latest trends.

Below are a few of the key takeaways from the report:

Replacement: It is amazing to see how many second and third generation buyers exist in a market that is still immature. Recruitment marketing is the top area of replacement in the next year above ATS, assessments and background screening. Organizations looking to replace these solutions cited capabilities, price and customer support as the top reasons. The providers that succeed in this market are not those that have secured the most investment but those that are committed to building products that their customers want to use.

Adoption: Adoption continues to be one of the greatest challenges with recruitment marketing. Only 2% of companies are using all of the functionality in their recruitment marketing solutions. The problem is two-fold: many companies do not have the resources in place to support implementation and adoption and many of these providers are not making products that are simple enough to get adopted. These solutions provide great value but only if they are getting used.

Buyer: The recruitment marketing buyer is different for every company and it is not always the head of talent acquisition that is the key decision maker. At many companies, recruitment operations professionals are responsible for evaluating providers and talent acquisition teams with candidate experience roles, campus recruiting roles and employer brand specialists are having influence as well.

Events Management: One of the key drivers for investing in recruitment marketing is the ability to create, track and manage all events. It is surprising that many of the providers in this market are still lacking some robust capabilities in events management. This is one area that is becoming increasingly important especially with the demand for more campus recruiting solutions.

The Recruitment Marketing Index report profiles eight of the leading providers in the space and will look at differentiators, product roadmap, investment, and capabilities. We are looking forward to sharing this research with you!

Categories
Blog

2018 HR Technology Conference: Bridging the Past and the Future

The energy at this year’s HR Technology Conference is hard to describe. This is an industry that thrives on connections. And there was no shortage of connections at this year’s event. Customers built closer relationships with solution providers. Partnerships were established. And even competitors explored opportunities with each other. This is an industry willing to share and an industry willing to learn. We have a unique opportunity to stay connected as vendors, practitioners, and thought leaders and something we should never take for granted. It is a great time to be in HR Technology.

I am still processing much of what I learned over the past week but some of the obvious themes include next generation assessments, communication solutions (yes, chatbots), employee experience solutions, and talent acquisition. Several years ago, startups were driving this market. Today, the focus has been on traditional providers that are setting the pace for innovation through enhanced products and partnerships.

Here are some of my observations and some providers worth checking out:

Assessments: Companies are increasing their investment in pre-hire assessments this year. In fact, according to Aptitude Research Partners’ 2018 Assessment study, 71% of companies are leveraging at least one assessment provider and 57% of these companies are using two or more providers. Until very recently, assessments have been a very stagnant market with little innovation. In fact, only 25% of companies in Aptitude’s 2018 Hire, Engage, Retain study are considering a mobile assessment solution. The good news is that we are now seeing tremendous innovation in the assessment space from both startups and traditional assessment providers. As my friend Jonathan Kestenbaum at Talent Tech Labs says: “Assessments are back in style”. This market has reinvented itself to be more predictive and candidate friendly. Below are some providers that impressed us last week:

–          Infor: Infor’s Talent Science is embedded into its talent suite- making assessments the framework of every talent solution. The candidate experience has been a priority over the past year and the assessments are mobile optimized. Infor has been successful at reducing the time to complete an assessment by 40% and at making assessments more predictive through the use of machine learning.

–          HireVue: Through the acquisition of MindX and its own product development, HireVue has established itself as a strong contender in the assessment space. Its’ focus is on game-based assessments that are predictive and ensure that candidates are more engaged in the process.

–          Shaker: If you are familiar with the assessment market, you probably know Shaker’s Virtual Job Tryout. It is a leader in game-based assessments. Shaker has made significant changes in the past year with a new leadership team (industry experts), global growth, and product innovation. It is focusing on areas such as internal mobility, predictive assessments, and mobile solutions.

–          SHL: Since going independent six months ago, SHL has moved away from a traditional assessment business and is focused on helping companies transform their workforce capabilities. It does this through the combination of science, technology, and data. It offers both pre-hire and post-hire assessments (talent acceleration) and focuses on the context of the work environment.

 

Candidate Communication: Today’s candidates are making smarter decisions about what they want from an employer. They are diving deeper into job sites, career sites, and social media to get a clear picture of an organization before making a connection. They want to understand if the skills they have are the skills needed for the job. Employers are finding better ways to communicate with candidates but they less than 40% companies provide relevant information to help candidates make better decisions. Companies want to do better and they are looking to providers to help improve communication (often through chatbots). Below are some companies improving candidate communication:

–          AllyO: There was no shortage of chatbots at this year’s conference. But AllyO stood out from others because of its accelerated automation and benefits to the candidate. It requires no registration or friction and no risk to candidates.

–          Brazen: One of the first chat and online communication solutions in recruitment, Brazen is now including its’ chat functionality on career sites and job pages.

–          IBM: Let’s be honest, most talent acquisition providers in AI are not really AI. Craig Fisher of Allegis Group calls it “Augmented Intelligence”. But there are a few exceptions, and Watson is one of them. Watson Candidate Assistant provides both employers and candidates with the insights they need to make better decisions and personalize the recruitment process. It is now available in more languages including French and also, available to Greenhouse customers through a new strategic partnership.

–          Montage: With a recent acquisition (GreenJobs Interview), momentum in several industries including Financial Services, and a strong year of growth, Montage has had an exciting year. Although its roots are in the video interviewing space, over half of its’ clients are using communication solutions that are not related to video including text, scheduling, and a recruiter assistant.

–          Monster: Monster is making improvements to the candidate journey and looking beyond pre-applicant. It offers authentic videos through Monster Studios to give candidates a better sense of an employer and connect employees and candidates.

–          Yello: Yello has made significant enhancements to its product over the past year including candidate engagement and communication. Through text messaging capabilities, Yello can provide keywords to candidates so they can be directed to career pages and can easily connect with employers.

Talent Acquisition Trifecta Providers: The Talent Acquisition Trifecta is the core areas of talent acquisition: recruitment marketing, ATS, and onboarding. Companies, regardless of size, need solutions to handle all three of these areas in order to be effective. While recruitment marketing has seen a great deal of innovation over the past year (we are publishing the recruitment marketing index in October so keep an eye out for providers in that space), ATS and Onboarding providers are enhancing their solutions as well. Below are some leading talent acquisition providers:

–          Clickboarding: Onboarding is one of the most important areas of talent acquisition that impacts productivity, retention, and performance. While so many solutions focus on the candidate experience, the new hire experience often gets ignored. Clickboarding is one of the most impressive solutions in onboarding today and provides both the compliance to employers and the positive experience that new hires expect.

–          Greenhouse: Greenhouse is continuing to move up market and has made a strategic partnership with IBM to use its Watson Candidate Assistant (see above).

–          Jobvite: Although many of the ATS providers now offer recruitment marketing capabilities, Jobvite has differentiated itself by selling the product as a stand-alone and investing in strong capabilities that go beyond just checking the box for a CRM.

–          SmartRecruiters: In addition to recent product announcements including SmartJobs, and SmartAssistant, SmartRecruiters has also been focused on its CRM product. It is ensuring that companies can easily create campaigns and make better decisions around engaging talent.

Employee Experience: Companies recognize the impact of experience on their growth and profitability and are making changes to how they communicate with, engage, and support their customers. But, creating an engaging experience does not and should not end with the customer. It must extend into our workforce. Just as companies are prioritizing customers, they must also focus on solutions that improve the employee experience. Below are some of the solution providers leading the way in employee experience.

–          Globoforce: Globoforce is continuing to improve the employee experience through its recognition software and conversations solution, which allows employees to receive ongoing feedback on performance.

–          Limeade: If you think about a modern employee experience model, wellness is the foundation. If employees are not well, productivity and performance are in jeopardy. Limeade provides solutions that promote wellness and mindfulness to benefit not only organizational goals but the overall employee experience. It also announced the acquisition of Sitrion, an employee communication tool, to further its commitment to the employee experience.

–          meQuilibrium: If you haven’t heard of MeQuilibrium, it’s because this provider spent over two years developing its interactive solution before going to market. MeQuilibrium focuses on measuring resiliency and collecting data on how thoughts and feelings impact employee performance.

–          Willis Towers Watson: The HR portal software is not a traditional HR Portal- it is a solution to employee communication and experience. This solution is personalized and branded to reflect company goals and objectives and includes case management, total rewards dashboards, and analytics.  One financial services client with over 80,000 employees invested in the HR portal to increase employee participation in total rewards programs and showcase the company brand.

It is a good time to be in HR Technology. With providers looking to help solve business challenges and improve the experience of the individual, this market has come along way. This blog is just a snapshot of some of the announcements from last week. We would love to hear what interested you.

Categories
Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Six Strategies for Improving Recruitment Marketing

Recruitment marketing is one of the fastest growing areas of HR technology with nearly 70% of enterprise companies investing in some capabilities. It is a popular topic and one that tends to focus on some obvious trends CRM, career sites, and analytics. Companies want solutions that will help them attract talent before they apply for a job.

The challenge is that most companies have very little understanding of what recruitment marketing is and how to evaluate and select a partner. Building a business case can be a challenge when companies feel overwhelmed with a lot of product and a lot of use cases. Some companies need to start out small and consider strategies that can help to bring immediate benefits to recruitment marketing initiatives. These strategies may not be the most obvious but they are simple to adopt.

Today, I am presenting on a webinar with Stephen Schwander, Director of Client Solutions at Talemetry, to address six innovative trends in recruitment marketing that are practical and easy to implement including:

• Communication: How texting directly with candidates optimizes response rates
• Personalization: How personalized content empowers the candidate journey and builds ongoing relationships
• Feedback: How sharing and reviewing feedback earlier on prospective talent provides an expedited and higher quality recruitment process
• Insights: How gaining insight and visibility into career site visitor behavior can empower recruiting teams to segment candidates and nurture the most engaged talent
• Machine Learning: How Google machine learning can maximize career site traffic and engagement to increase candidate conversion
• Candidate Conversion: How improving candidate conversion on Indeed can increase overall application volume

Recruitment marketing doesn’t have to be a future goal. It can be an immediate goal and something your company can start working on today.

Categories
Blog

Assessments: You Have Better Options

I have been covering the assessment market for the past 15 years. And to be honest…I have done a less than stellar job. Looking back on research from 2005 makes me want to cringe. We are still talking about the same trends, the same providers, and the same challenges. Companies continue to invest heavily in assessments (some close to $2 million) and assessments continue to frustrate recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates. Not much has changed. Overall, most companies feel that assessments are not short enough, not predictive enough, and not candidate-friendly enough. If you have ever taken an assessment, you get it. It is a test and most people don’t like tests.

But the conundrum that companies face is that assessments actually provide tremendous value when used correctly. In an era when everyone wants less bias and more science, assessments are a proven model. In research we conducted earlier this year, assessments are one of the top three investments for talent acquisition leaders and an investment that 30% of companies believe has the greatest impact on quality of hire. It is a market where most companies want to increase their budgets. Unfortunately, they need better options.

Last week, when most of the talent acquisition community was focused on the acquisition of Glassdoor, HireVue announced its own acquisition of MindX– a game-based assessment provider. It is not HireVue’s first acquisition but it may be the best to date. HireVue is establishing itself as a strong contender in assessments and providing companies with exactly what they need…a better option. This acquisition represents a shift in the assessment market where companies are no longer at the mercy of traditional providers.

We are publishing a major piece of research on assessments this month and some of the trends we are seeing include:

–          Experience vs. Validation: The assessment market is not a startup market. Companies need providers with validated solutions and I/Os on staff. Many times, this commitment to validation comes at the expense of a positive experience. The next generation of assessment providers will provide both a positive experience (shorter assessments that are more candidate-friendly) and trusted data and solutions.

–          Lack of Awareness: Most enterprise companies invest heavily in assessments but most have limited knowledge of the providers that play in this market. The assessment market is not small by any means but the number of providers with brand awareness are few and far between. It creates a feeling of “meh” around assessments. Companies have a hard time leaving a provider that they are not satisfied with when they do not know what options are available.

–          Increased Demand for High-Volume: Most companies are increasing their investment for assessments for high-volume positions to help them narrow the funnel and attract quality hires. This is a shift from the heavy investment in custom assessments for executive level positions of the past.

–          Game-based assessments: Companies want game-based assessments for their most critical roles and see value in a better candidate experience and the ability to predict future performance.

We will publish our latest assessment research this month. We have interviewed many talent acquisition leaders this year and feel confident that we will do a better job addressing the real challenges and opportunities in this market.

Categories
Blog

A Simple Way to Improve Quality in Talent Acquisition

According to our latest talent acquisition survey, forty percent of companies are increasing their headcount this year and as a result, need to think about investing in the right solutions. Many of these companies are thinking differently about some of the basic areas of talent acquisition rather than investing in what seems to be “new”. Companies want solutions that can help ensure quality of hire and provide a better candidate experience. It sounds simple but with thousands of solutions entering the market, finding providers you can trust is more valuable than bells and whistles.

Over 50% of companies said that background screening solutions have the greatest impact on quality. Screening solutions help organizations make better decisions around the talent they are bringing into the organization. Most companies are investing in criminal background checks as well as verification of employment and education. And…over 60% of companies view screening as so strategic that they are moving it up in the process.

Next week I will present on a webinar to discuss how companies are leveraging these solutions to improve both sides of quality: quality of hire and the quality of the candidate experience. Here are some of the topics we covered:

Quality of Hire: Background screening is one way organizations can improve quality of hire by providing another layer of objectivity needed to make better decisions and retain talent. When an organization is able to eliminate applicants that do not fit the position or role in the process, they can focus on the individuals that are more likely to contribute to organizational performance and growth. Organizations that are taking a more strategic approach to background screening – deeply probing into relevant information on candidates and relying on more than single errors to reject candidates – identify quality hires. Companies that invest in screening are three times more likely to track quality of hire.

Quality of the Experience: Aptitude’s research shows that investing in the right provider improves efficiency and the quality of hire and the overall candidate experience. Companies that invest in background screening solutions are viewing it as part of the process and are twice as likely to have improved their overall candidate experience in the past year. A proper and efficient screening process saves candidates the headache of getting too far along in the application process before being rejected. According to research from The Talent Board, on average, over a quarter of the employers surveyed stated that 50-75% of applicants aren’t qualified for the jobs they applied for across job classifications. Companies that invest in screening improve the candidate experience and track it so they can make changes and communicate better in the future.

Companies that invest in a strategic background screening provider are able to trust that the data about candidates is reliable. Thus, the quality of hire and the experience is improved. We hope you join us next week!

Categories
Blog

April Acquisitions in Talent Acquisition

According to the PwC Deals report that published yesterday, 506 deals took place involving US tech companies in Q1. To put that in perspective, we are talking about $60 billion exchanged. And, no surprise, several of these deals were in HCM technology. These deal sizes and volume have remained up and the momentum has not slowed down in Q2. We saw some significant acquisitions this month in talent acquisition and talent management. Companies are looking for the right exit strategies and opportunities to expand their customer base and product suites.

Here are a few of the major announcements this month in case you missed them:

-Learning Technology Group (LTG) entered into an agreement to acquire talent management provide PeopleFluent last week. LTG has acquired several leading learning providers over the past few years including NetDimensions and the PeopleFluent acquisition allows it to expand into other areas of talent management as well as some robust solutions in the contingent workforce space. PeopeFluent is no stranger to acquisitions. After acquiring PeopleClick, Authoria was acquired by Bedford Funding which then rebranded as PeopleFluent. (It’s confusing to us too). 

-Gemspring Capital completes its acquisition of TMP. This acquisition doesn’t come as a huge surprise. TMP’s been trying to reinvent itself for the past few years – especially through its TalentBrew product. Gemspring Capital can help to accelerate its transformation into becoming more of a tech company.

–Indeed Acquires Workopolis. The biggest indicator of a provider’s decline is when it starts to acquire companies that do exactly what they do but on a smaller scale. Indeed’s recent acquisition of Canadian job board, Workopolis is a good example (Does anyone remember some of Monster’s acquisitions of several job boards before it started to decline?). Joel Cheesman provides a great overview of the acquisition on ERE.

But how do these acquisitions impact customers? Having your provider acquired is not necessarily a bad thing but there are some things to consider. What is driving the acquisition? Is the provider trying to expand its product suite? Or is this merely an attempt to stay relevant? Customers need to ask the tough questions and start to prepare for possible changes in dedicated representatives, response time, and product updates.

Categories
Blog

Best-of-Breed vs. ERP in Talent Acquisition

The debate between ERP and best-of-breed is still very much alive in talent acquisition technology. In our latest survey, companies are two times more likely to invest in best-of-breed providers. These companies recognize that in many cases, best-of-breed solutions are able to provide both seamless integration and depth in functionality. These providers integrate (through an ecosystem or marketplace) with third-party providers such as background screening, assessment, and video interviewing providers, as well as existing HRIS providers. Aptitude’s research found that companies are 4 times more satisfied with a best-of-breed talent acquisition provider than a traditional ERP provider.

Below are three reasons why companies are considering best-of-breed over ERP: expertise, experience, and adoption.

  • Expertise: Many best-of-breed solution providers are building expertise into their solutions. These providers understand how to help organizations navigate talent acquisition and have product roadmaps designed for talent acquisition functions. Some providers are demonstrating their deep domain expertise by helping companies improve diversity and inclusion, offering organizations capabilities such as anonymous screening, job description checkers, and bias detection initiatives. These providers are also providing scalability to help support clients as they grow. According to Aptitude’s research, 56% of companies are investing in providers that can demonstrate deep domain expertise in talent acquisition.
  • Experience: Recruiters need an easy way to attract, recruit, and hire talent. If a technology provider is not solving that problem, they do not have a viable solution. Many legacy ERP solutions are too complicated. Best-of-breed technology providers need to make it simple and address the challenges they are facing. According to Aptitude’s research, companies using best-of-breed solutions are improving the experience for recruiters and candidates.
  • Adoption: Less than 20% of companies view their ERP provider as a partner once a solution has been implemented. Companies need to look at not only how their provider will partner with them during implementation, but also throughout the course of their relationship.

We are about to kick-off our recruitment marketing research and this topic of best-of-breed vs. ERP is still a very relevant one as many providers looking at expanding both capabilities and services. We would love to hear your thoughts on this topic!

Categories
Blog

Hiring Success 2018: Top 10 Key Takeaways

The ATS market is not really about the ATS anymore. Companies are investing in solutions that are less about compliance and workflow and more about strategic talent acquisition. This is a market where differentiators go beyond product capabilities and include services, customer support, and leadership. This new reality certainly rang true at SmartRecruiter’s Hiring Success event in San Francisco last week. Over 1000 companies came together to discuss topics such as diversity and inclusion, recruitment marketing, and collaboration. Most of the sessions didn’t even mention ATS.

SmartRecruiters’ CEO, Jerome Ternynck, kicked off the conference defining what success looks like including a positive candidate experience, hiring manager accountability, and recruiter efficiency. It was a refreshing and simple message for a very complex topic. In addition to some very meaningful discussions about the role of talent acquisition, SmartRecruiters made some significant product and company announcements last week.

For those of you not there, here are the ten things we think you might want to know:

  1. SmartJobs: SmartRecruiters has launched its own programmatic advertising solution that will help companies with job advertising and attracting talent.
  2. Recruiter Assistant: As most talent acquisition providers are marching down the path of AI, SmartRecruiters is offering its own AI solution to help communicate with candidates and enable better decision making.
  3. SmartStart– If you have been in talent acquisition for the past ten years, SmartRecruiters original vision back in 2008 was to offer a free ATS to companies. They are continuing that commitment with SmartStart, a free ATS for companies with under 250 employees.
  4. CRM: In our latest survey, we found that 1 in 4 companies are looking at their ATS for CRM capabilities. So, it is no surprise that SmartRecruiters has developed a CRM solution to help attract and nurture leads.
  5. Shelley Winner– SmartRecruiters included candidates in their agenda. Shelley Winner presented a truly inspirational story about her candidate journey from prison to her role as an impressive Microsoft product leader.
  6. Leadership: Jerome’s passion for recruitment is hard to deny. He is the type of CEO that greets every customer and employee with a hug. With so many startups and ERPs dipping their toes in talent acquisition, this expertise and commitment to this space is rare. (Dan Finnigan, CEO of Jobvite, and Colin Day, CEO of iCIMS, also fall under this category.):
  7. Ecosystem: Most talent acquisition user conferences do not have a large expo or partner presence. Hiring Success was an exception. Many of the leading talent acquisition providers were in attendance at this conference both in sessions and in the expo.
  8. Diverse Industries: It is hard to find a company in the Bay area that is growing outside of the tech market. So, it was encouraging to see a wide mix of industries including retail, hospitality, professional services, and healthcare.
  9. Moving Up Market: Like many of their peers, SmartRecruiters is moving up market with significant customer wins in the past year including Adidas and Avery Denison. Avery Denison said that integration with LinkedIn and Workday were key factors in their decision to move to SmartRecruiters.
  10. Nor’easter: With 18 inches of snow headed for the east coast last week, I was very happy to be in San Francisco and in no rush to go home.

It is amazing to see how much talent acquisition has evolved in the past few years and how companies are thinking more strategically about the way they recruit and hire talent. These conferences are a reminder of how critical talent acquisition is in both hiring success and organizational success.

Categories
Blog

Willis Towers Watson: HR Technology, Consulting, and Data

When you think of Willis Towers Watson, “software” is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. As a leading consulting provider with over 40,000 employees in 140 countries, corporations use Willis Towers Watson’s services to help them grow, develop and retain talent. This firm has a reputation for expertise and excellence in delivering HR solutions to complex organizations. But, what might surprise you (and it surprised me) is its’ commitment to innovation and world-class technology. Willis Towers Watson has a suite of solutions that includes compensation software, assessments, engagement solutions, HR portals, and analytics. These are not traditional or outdated solutions but rather solutions that provide a modern, simple experience and innovative, next generation capabilities. What sets it apart and why I was so impressed with this provider is the combination of software, services, and reliable data. It doesn’t excel in just one of these areas. It provides expertise in all three and offers its customers what seems to be so rare in HR technology…a true partnership.

Each month, we select a different provider to profile that has impressed us and Willis Towers Watson is this month’s selection. Below are some of the more innovative solutions:

–          Compensation Software: Compensation is a top priority for organizations this year. When we asked companies what they are looking for in a provider, 1 in 2 companies said the ability to support growth at their organization. Companies want a partner that understands the complexities of compensation management, the dynamics of an evolving market, and can provide the expertise and insight to help them make more strategic decisions. Willis Towers Watson offers a solution to help companies design and analyze and manage their compensation programs with capabilities that include competitive benchmarking, salary structure design, job leveling (to achieve a balance across an organization), and reporting and analytics.

–          Engagement Solutions: Engaging employees is one of the greatest challenges facing HR professionals today. According to our 2018 Hire, Engage, and Retain survey, companies that invest in engagement software are 4 times more likely to retain employees and 2 times more likely to improve organizational performance. Willis Towers Watson offers more than just surveys. It offers solutions that measure engagement efforts and create an action plan to improve engagement efforts. It offers pulse surveys – a high growth area of HR tech that 1 in 2 companies plan to increase investment in over the next year. One global consumer goods company decided to implement pulse surveys to better understand local concerns and compare that to the larger employee engagement survey.

–          HR Portal: The HR Portal software has several benefits including a better approach for employee communication and engagement. This solution is personalized to the individual so he or she receives information that is relevant and unique to them. The portal is branded to reflect company goals and objectives and includes case management, total rewards dashboards, and analytics.  One financial services client with over 80,000 employees uses HR Portal to increase employee participation in total rewards programs and showcase the company brand.

HR technology seems divided between traditional providers (with outdated technology) that are able to support complex global organizations and startups that offer more innovation but lack the security and flexibility that large organizations need. Willis Towers Watson is proving that organizations do not need to sacrifice one for the other. They can have the expertise and the innovation across a suite of solutions.

Categories
Blog

The Impact of Recognition on the Employee Experience

A group of co-workers smiling and working together around a table

Companies recognize the impact of experience on growth and profitability and are changing the way they engage and support customers. They are placing a heavy focus on the individual – creating a more meaningful relationship. This is our experience as consumers and it is starting into the workforce. Today’s companies must prioritize the employee and invest in the right strategies and technology to support these efforts.

The employee experience directly impacts business results. Yet, the challenge that most companies face is they do not know where to start. Despite being a top priority, only 34% of companies have improved the employee experience in 2017 – a decline from over 60% of companies in 2016. Organizations can no longer afford a negative employee experience and they need to begin to rethink their initiatives- particularly recognition.

Aptitude Research Partners found that 42% of companies plan to invest in recognition in 2018. Companies that leverage the right strategies and technology to recognize and motivate their employees are more likely to improve the employee experience. Recognition is one of the most powerful tools available to organizations yet it is often overlooked. When employees feel recognized and empowered, they are more likely to contribute to organizational goals, achieve performance objectives, and stay with their employer.

Companies that want to make more strategic decisions around employee recognition and the technology they use should consider the following:

Invest in Social Recognition: Companies that invest in social recognition software are able to create a culture where managers and peers are consistently recognizing each other in a frequent and meaningful way.

Empower Managers:  Managers often lack the tools and resources they need to recognize their employees. By providing solutions that empower managers to recognize employees and hold them accountable will improve the overall employee experience.

Measure the Results: Recognition will not impact the overall employee experience unless organizations have a systematic way to measure recognition efforts and adjust their programs accordingly.

Keep It Simple: Recognition should not be complex. Both processes and technology should provide a simple experience where recognition is easy to execute, track, and manage.

Tomorrow I am presenting on a webinar with SHRM and Achievers to talk about the impact recognition has on the employee experience and the steps companies need to do to create a culture where employees are recognized in a meaningful way. I hope you can join us at 2pm EST tomorrow!

LinkedIn Twitter Email
Top
Aptitude Research