Category: Blogs

Employee engagement and satisfaction are key drivers of organizational success. However, when employees find themselves benched or without active assignments, their engagement levels can decline, leading to decreased motivation and disengagement. In this blog, we will explore effective strategies to improve the engagement and satisfaction of benched employees. By implementing these employee engagement strategies and initiatives, organizations can foster work engagement, mitigate disengagement, and create a positive work environment for their benched employees.

Clear Communication and Transparency

Clear communication and transparency are vital to enhancing employee engagement. When employees are benched, it is essential to communicate their status, reasons for benching, and expected duration in a transparent manner. This empowers benched employees, making them feel valued and recognized by the organization. Transparent communication fosters trust and ensures that employees remain engaged despite their temporary situation, promoting work engagement and overall employee satisfaction.

Skill Development Opportunities

During periods of benching, employees have an opportunity to focus on skill development. By offering skill development programs, training sessions, or conducting hackathons, organizations can empower benched employees to enhance their skills and boost their engagement. Encourage employees to explore new areas of expertise, acquire certifications, or participate in workshops. This investment in their professional growth demonstrates the organization’s commitment to their long-term development, improving employee satisfaction and engagement.

A well-designed Learning and Development (L&D) framework can prove invaluable in addressing such situations. Implementing one is not a daunting task as we have created a successful L&D strategy at iamneo through meticulous research and surveys. Make use of our research report The Wheel Of Engagement: An Employee-Centric L&D Framework.

Meaningful Assignments and Projects

Even when benched, employees should be given meaningful assignments or projects aligned with their skills and interests. These opportunities keep employees engaged, enabling them to utilize their capabilities effectively. Consider assigning benched employees to cross-functional teams, task forces, or internal projects. Such involvement allows them to collaborate with colleagues from different departments, broaden their knowledge, and contribute to the organization’s success, fostering work engagement and employee satisfaction.

Regular Check-Ins and Feedback

Regular check-ins with benched employees are crucial to maintain their engagement and satisfaction. Schedule one-on-one meetings to discuss their progress, concerns, and future goals. Actively listen to their feedback and address any issues promptly. Providing constructive feedback and acknowledging their efforts helps benched employees feel valued and connected to the organization, promoting work engagement and overall employee satisfaction.

Employee Recognition and Rewards

Recognizing the contributions and achievements of benched employees is vital to sustaining engagement and satisfaction. Implement a recognition system that appreciates their efforts, whether through informal praise, public recognition, or rewards. Celebrating their successes, even during periods of benching, reinforces their sense of purpose and motivates them to continue performing at their best, positively impacting employee engagement and satisfaction.

Foster a Positive and Supportive Culture

Creating a positive work culture is essential for maintaining engagement, particularly for benched employees who may experience feelings of isolation or reduced self-worth. Encourage collaboration, teamwork, and open communication throughout the organization. Foster a supportive environment where employees feel comfortable seeking assistance, sharing ideas, or seeking mentorship. By prioritizing a positive culture, organizations can mitigate disengagement and promote work engagement among benched employees, ultimately enhancing their satisfaction.

Conclusion

To maximize employee engagement and satisfaction for benched employees, organizations must proactively implement strategies and initiatives. Clear communication, skill development opportunities, meaningful assignments, regular check-ins, employee recognition, and fostering a positive culture are key elements in empowering benched employees and maintaining a motivated and engaged workforce.

Remember, prioritizing employee engagement initiatives leads to higher employee satisfaction, commitment, and long-term organizational success.

Gamification is the use of game design elements and mechanics in non-game contexts to increase engagement, motivation, and participation. Gamification has found applications in different sectors such as education, marketing, and customer service, and now it is hoisting its flag in recruitment.

To explore how gamification has spiced up the education industry, check out our blog on gamification in the ed-tech industry.

The Danish Company, Uncle Grey used Team Fortress players to get applicants for their front-end developer role. They provided sponsorship to the game’s leading players, who then displayed Uncle Grey’s job advertisements in the game and adopted the job URL as their in-game name. The response generated a large pool of qualified candidates, ultimately resulting in the successful recruitment of their front-end developer.

International advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather createda social media competition to recruit their sales person. The campaign promised a fellowship at Ogilvy if they can sell a block of brick. This challenge not only found their eligible candidates but also tremendously increased their brand visibility globally.

Phoenix Software used escape rooms to recruit their candidates. They had to apply their technical skills to figure out the clues of the game. This not only tested the candidates’ technical ability but also their performance under pressure and their ability to coordinate as a team.

These are some of the gamification examples in recruitment showing how it can engage your potential employees and enliven your hiring process.

How to use gamification in hiring?

Skill Assessments

One way to use gamification in hiring is to create skill assessments that use game-like mechanics. For example, instead of a typical multiple-choice test, a company can create an interactive game that tests the candidate’s skills. This not only makes the assessment process more engaging for the candidate but also provides a more accurate picture of their skills and abilities.

Simulation-Based Exercises

Another way gamification can be used in hiring is through simulation-based exercises. For example, a company can create a virtual simulation of a job task or scenario, and have candidates play through it. This allows the company to observe how the candidate performs in a realistic work situation, giving them a more accurate idea of their skills and how they would perform on the job.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is another gamification tool that can be used in hiring. Companies can create virtual reality experiences that allow candidates to explore the company’s workplace, culture, and values. This can give candidates a better sense of what it would be like to work for the company, which can help them decide if the company is a good fit for them.

Gamified Application Process

The application process itself can be gamified to make it more engaging and interactive for candidates. For example, a company can create a mini-game that candidates must complete as part of the application process. This not only makes the process more engaging for the candidate but also helps the company identify candidates who are willing to put in extra effort to apply for the job.

Employee Referral Programs

Gamification can also be used to encourage employee referrals. For example, a company can create a game that rewards employees for referring qualified candidates. This not only incentivizes employees to refer candidates but also makes the referral process more engaging and fun.

Benefits of Gamification in Recruitment

Better Analysis

Traditional interview settings can often limit candidates from showcasing their full potential. Gamification on the other hand, offers an accurate assessment of a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses which may not be apparent through standard interview questions alone.

This approach also enables the identification of non-tangible qualities, such as emotional intelligence, common sense, vigilance, adaptability and coordination.

More Accuracy

Artificial Intelligence is the base of gamification and hence it provides better results in terms of accuracy. There is not much intervention by humans in the process and hence it provides a fair and unbiased evaluation.

Improves Candidate Experience

The spontaneity of gamification in the recruitment process, creates a more enjoyable and less stressful experience for candidates. This allows them to relax and approach the hiring process with more confidence and focus.

Increased Brand Awareness

Even if a candidate does not make it through the gamification process, the high level of engagement can still leave a positive impression and increase their eagerness to participate in future recruitment efforts. Furthermore, their experience may encourage them to spread the word about the company’s recruitment process to a wider audience.

Challenges Involved

Authenticity

Although gamification can be an effective way to evaluate a candidate’s abilities, it may not always provide a straightforward assessment. Due to the lack of direct interaction and the difficulty in confirming the authenticity of the candidate’s performance, it may be necessary to conduct additional in-person interviews before making a final hiring decision.

Cost

Creating gamified hiring experiences can be expensive, especially if a company is using virtual reality or other advanced technologies.

Accessibility

Not all candidates may have access to the necessary technology or equipment to participate in gamified hiring experiences.

Fairness

Companies need to ensure that gamified hiring experiences are fair and accessible to all candidates, regardless of their gaming skills or experience.

Data Privacy

Gamification can involve collecting and storing sensitive candidate data, which can create privacy concerns.

All these adversities must be kept in mind while implementing a gamification-led hiring process. However, with proper tools and effective strategy, it is definitely possible for companies to overcome these challenges and fully leverage the benefits of gamification in recruitment.

Conclusion

Overall, gamification in recruitment has proven to be a powerful tool for companies seeking to enhance their hiring process. It provides a unique opportunity to make the recruitment process more engaging, efficient, and effective while providing a fun and engaging experience for candidates. With the ongoing development of technology, the use of gamification is expected to grow further in the coming years.

Artificial Intelligence has taken the world by storm, and so has the excitement and anticipation. It has changed the way people live, work and connect. From Alexa being the friend you never had to Chat GPT being the destination to get all your answers, AI is making waves for all the right reasons. But beneath the hype and glamour, employers worldwide have been finding ways to use this transformative technology to create faster, fairer and accurate talent acquisition process. Come, let’s delve into it!

The future of hiring

The future looks promising with AI shaping the talent acquisition process, one hire at a time. AI is not widely used in recruitment now, but it is predicted to increase by two, three, or even four times in the near future. The AI tools which have the greatest utility in TA are Big-data analytics, automated assessments and predictive analytics. It enables recruiters to source candidates more efficiently, assess candidates more accurately and onboard them more quickly.

Sourcing & Screening

Candidate sourcing and screening involves finding individuals who fit the job role and manually sifting through the influx of resumes.

AI can help in resume screening by automating the process of filtering through resumes and identifying those that best match the job requirements. Natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) algorithms can be used to analyze resumes and extract relevant information, such as education, work experience, and skills. Employers can compare this information to the job requirements to determine which candidates are the best fit for the position. This allows recruiters to concentrate on attracting and placing top talent instead of mundane tasks.

Assessing the right fit

The next and the most essential step in the talent acquisition process is the evaluation of candidates. Recruiters schedule multiple levels of screening to shortlist the right candidates. Traditional scheduling methods often involve a back-and-forth exchange of emails and phone calls, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. With AI, candidates can easily schedule interviews through a self-service portal. Recruiters can also automatically coordinate interview times and locations based on the availability of both the candidate and the interviewer.

Recruiters can use AI to improve the candidate experience by providing personalized and timely communication throughout the recruiting process. This can include automated emails and text messages to keep candidates informed of the status of their application. Personalized feedback and recommendations can also be set which would increase their chances of getting hired.

Onboard to success

Onboarding is a critical step in the employee life-cycle. Effective onboarding improves employee retention, productivity and engagement. It’s an opportunity for the company to greet the new employee, validate their choice, and provide the conditions for long-term success. AI systems automate the tedious paperwork process involved in onboarding new employees. They also analyze data from resumes, job applications, and interviews to create a personalized onboarding experience for each new employee. Overall, AI can help to make the onboarding process more efficient, effective, and personalized. This leads to better outcomes for both the new hires and the company.

Smooth onboarding process creates a good perception about the company’s brand among job seekers thereby making it easier to attract top talents.

Hiring – No more a tiring task

One of the most exciting ways AI can enhance talent acquisition process is through the use of predictive analytics. By analyzing data from previous hiring processes, AI can identify patterns and trends that recruiters can use to predict which candidates are most likely to be successful in a particular role. This allows recruiters to focus their efforts on the most promising candidates, rather than wasting time and resources on less likely matches.

Here’s a complete report to know the hiring trends of 2023.

Enhance hiring workflow

In the next few years, finding top talent will depend on a recruiter’s ability to intelligently automate their workflow and unearth insights into their talent pool. The Applicant Tracking System has the capacity to combine data from several sources into a single, cohesive data set. This gives hiring managers and talent acquisition specialists access to the ‘big picture’ of a candidate’s likelihood of success.

Get, Set, Go

While AI may fascinate you, companies should implement AI in a way that aligns with their values and culture. It’s also important to ensure that AI does not perpetuate bias or discrimination. Hence one should strive to make AI a part of a productive but humanized talent acquisition process. Make sure that great people know you want, need, and like them. Pour more human energy into connecting and understanding people to achieve this.

Ever since the dawn of AI in recruiting, coding assessment software has become increasingly popular in recent years to evaluate candidate’s technical skills.   

Using an assessment software now is the most straightforward approach for evaluating developers, while it has been different in the past. Let’s look at the history of coding interviews and what led to the rise of coding assessments.    

Whiteboard Interviews

Back then, candidates were required to code on the whiteboard!!. Bizarre, isn’t it?

This method was long-used and quite popular in the ’80s, ’90s and even in the early 2000s to evaluate a developer’s skills. This approach was known as the Whiteboard Interview. 

Candidates who make it to the in-person whiteboard interview have a couple of hours to show the tech team how quickly and concisely they can code. They have to stand up, turn to a whiteboard and handwrite code from scratch while a handful of senior developers scrutinize their every word and move. 

Whiteboard exercises weren’t designed to be quick, scalable, or solve real-world issues to secure top talent hiring. Most questions would last an hour, while job interviews take up to a whole day and they seldom simulate real-world problems. This strategy was effective enough back then as software developer professions were relatively new to the market.

The Microsoft Way 

The turn of the millennium marked a new era in coding interviews. Microsoft was a pioneer in the coding interview as they test not only a candidate’s technical knowledge and coding ability but also their problem-solving skills in a creative manner. Interviewers often brought questions like these to test their logical thinking abilities,  

1. There are three ants at the three corners of a regular triangle. Each ant starts moving in a straight line toward another randomly chosen corner. What is the probability that none of the ants will collide?

2. Suppose you have eight billiard balls. One of them is defective – it weighs more than the others. How do you tell, using a balance, which ball is faulty in two weightings?

As funny as it sounds, Microsoft’s technical interviews always had some brain teasers or required logical thinking to answer the questions. Bill Gates’s obsession heavily influenced this with puzzles, and it was Gate’s idea to present dilemmas in interviews.

But over the years, these became less popular in favour of technical screening software as the latter was set to change the game forever.  

As the need for software developers grew, businesses started looking for alternate methods of efficiently hiring. The assessment software was seen as a proven solution and started to gain popularity as a critical component of the screening process to evaluate a candidate’s coding efficacy.   

The coding assessment software began to dethrone Whiteboard and Microsoft’s interviewing methods. Because of the tech industry’s realisation that it will need to hire a lot more developers to support the industry’s exponential growth.   

So, what is Coding Assessment Software?

In simple terms, coding assessments are tests that are given to candidates to evaluate their technical ability. Using this Technical screening, companies can test job candidates’ coding skills by presenting them with challenges or tasks they must complete using a programming language.  

The quickening pace of advanced technologies

In the 1990s, recruiters made the best of the available resources. Now, modern recruitment started implementing more technologically advanced methods to screen and test a developer’s communication and coding abilities without a whiteboard and marker. The coding Assessment software enables remote viewing, editing, and discussion of programming challenges in a faster and more scalable way in real time.  

Greater demand for skilled developers

The rising need for qualified developers is one factor in the growth of technical screening platforms. With the proliferation of technology in every industry, there is a growing need for developers who can build and maintain software systems. As a result, businesses are ready to spend on resources that will enable them to find and hire the best individuals.  

Coding assessment software also offers convenience and flexibility for both companies and candidates. These platforms make it easy for companies to administer tests and review results, saving time and resources. For candidates, it allows them to complete the assessment at their own pace and from the comfort of their own homes, making the hiring process more convenient and accessible.  

Analyzing in-depth skills

Another factor contributing to the popularity of coding evaluation platforms is their capacity to offer a more impartial and uniform method of evaluating candidates’ abilities. Traditional techniques for assessing coding skills, such as reviewing resumes and conducting interviews, can be arbitrary and biased. Contrarily, coding assessment tools let businesses evaluate applicants for particular competencies and take a consistent performance measurement of their results.  

Conclusion

The rise of coding assessment software reflects the growing importance of technical skills in the job market and the need for companies to find reliable and efficient ways to evaluate candidates. As the demand for developers continues to rise, the technical screening will become even more widespread and sophisticated in the coming years.  

Hurdles in Tech Hiring

If you’re in the technical hiring space, you might know how difficult it is to recruit technical people in a short span of time. Mostly, it is the developers in your organization who’d sit with you for prolonged technical interview sessions. They create time outside of their usual work to help build an A-Team of technical experts. Sometimes they need to work overtime or reprioritize or cancel their important project work, calls, demos, presentations, and important client meetings just to function as a recruiter; their new avatar.

Here, the chances of recruitment goals failing is high since developers learn the responsibilities of a technical recruiter and rely completely on their technical knowledge to finish the interview process. Other than these, there are many problems in technical hiring like

1. Interview Fatigue
2. Low Bandwidth Problem
3. Time and Cost Problem
4. Poor Candidate Experience
5. Finding Qualified Candidates

Developer Heist: Hire the Best

Degrees aren’t a favorable factor for hiring anymore. Many companies have ditched the traditional model of asking the things on a candidate’s resume and like anything, interviews are evolving too. In this fast-paced world looking for innovation in the hiring industry every single day, interviews have got a big role to play.

From a candidate’s perspective, an interview needs to be short, to the point, challenging, and referable toward his or her friends and family. While for a company, a candidate assessment should serve the purpose, pull in the right candidates, save cost and time, and does not interrupt the normal working conditions of their employees. A good interview is half-the-job done as it sets the pace perfect for a successful hiring process. Because onboarding alone isn’t a solution for productivity. There are many factors associated with the post-recruitment productivity of an employee.

That too for recruiting a highly technical team, there are lots of problems in the HR department. Not every hiring manager could be able to pull off a stellar team of SMEs, technical titans, experienced educators, and tech-savvy saviors.

If you have read till here, keep doing that to know about three effective ways to hire developers for your organization in a short span of time.

1. The Hiring Highway: Interview as a Service

“This fast-paced hiring model will work when you are running out of time”

What is interview as a service or IaaS?

A recruitment solution that speeds up technical hiring using dedicated technical interviewers. Through Interview as a Service, time, effort, candidate bandwidth, stress of internal recruiters are managed effectively.

When should you use Interview as a Service for Hiring?

When you clearly understand you want to increase the bandwidth of your hiring and speed up the hiring process without compromising on quality.

Interview as a Service will only improve the quality of your hiring process if the right interviewers interview your potential future candidates. All you need is a trustable recruitment partner like NeoHire to streamline your hiring process. You’ll able to accumulate as many candidates as possible in a short span of time due to the hiring efficiency of this model. For Example, NeoHire was able to conduct more than 100 interviews per day using an expert interview panel for one of the top IT services companies in India.

Benefits of NeoHire’s “Interview as a Service” Hiring Model:

• Swift Interview Process: IaaS is both a cost-effective and time-effective plan for IT Companies and with a range of recruiters, IaaS can accomplish more interviews in a less amount of time.​ Lightning-fast interviews means adding up to the employer brand value and standard.​
• Candidate-Interviewer Match: Only the role-specific recruiters can make a difference in the hiring process. ​Experienced SMEs can help achieve your organization’s goals and we NeoHire strongly understand the difference between fresher hiring and senior software architect hiring interview process.​
• Great Candidate Experience​: A great interview session is something that connects a candidate and a company to both of their desired level. And, if that is reached, a candidate’s review about his overall interview experience on sites like Glassdoor will positively impact a company’s reputation.​
• Gamification in Interviews​: If you’re interviewing the Gen-z workforce, Gamified assessments are game changers. Iaas could use gamifications with the help of services from NeoHire for an enriched interview process.​
• Communication with Your Recruiters​: Programmers of your organization need not prepare for their new avatar but can focus on their important client calls and meetings. And, if they want to just know the progress of an interview and want to collaborate with us any point of time, we’re game.​

2. The Zuckerberg Way: Hackathons

“The creative way where internal and external hackathons bring new ideas and hires”

What is a Hackathon?

An event organized and designed to utilize technology, mostly coding to complete an objective or arrive at desirable solutions when it comes to solving business problems.

When should you use Hackathons for Hiring?

If you are looking to update your whole product, open for new technology, and have a thing for the future, get in line with the advanced hiring tool – Hackathon.

Hackathons are the NFTs of Hiring now. The new-age recruitment tool. Big organizations like Facebook have always had an upper hand due to their effective organization of internal hackathons. Even “like“ and “chat” were discovered in one of Facebook’s hackathon events. No one knows what a team of novice coders and their collaboration would come up with, that’s the power of hackathons. Your next stalwart developer might be attending your hackathon. There you go! A hiring hackathons could potentially make you hire not just one but a team of expert developers who have a common connection or professional friendship between them. A big brownie point! Since culture fit ain’t a problem as your future developers were past coding chums.

Benefits of NeoHire’s Hackathons-for-Hiring Model

• Finding Solutions for Upcoming Business

Take for example the emerging technology like Blockchain. We never know where cryptocurrencies are heading and only those well versed with the current technology can think of advanced business ideas. Tapping into campus and connecting with the students through a Blockchain Hackathon can tremendously help IT companies. We @neohire.io have done a half-a-dozen successful hackathons for some of the best IT and ITes companies. Our support through poster promotions, organizing of the event, and productive outcomes have made those companies stay connected with us until this point in time.

• Product Promotion via API Hackathon

Any new line of business will require the effective adoption of APIs and what’s better than conducting an API hackathon to promote your product. More users and API calls mean an explosion in your revenue stream. Don’t miss out on the opportunity of acquiring 1500+ developers for building your yet to be named product idea. 

• Employer Branding 

Gaining trust and earning a good name for what a company stands for from a student and employee’s perspective is important. Through any hackathon event, the value of a company, the technology it uses, and the business space it is in can be communicated. And so, building a candidate pipeline becomes easy.

3. The Warren Buffett Way: Set up a Campus COE

“The standard approach of maintaining a stable relationship with a campus for a healthy hiring pipeline.”

What is a Campus COE?

To put it simply, COE is no person or some misspelled word for CEO. It is a beautiful bridge that connects academic institutions with the tech industry. But as you know, it is a lot more than that. The possibilities of this program are boundless. But the good thing is, COE creates a win-win scenario. For both tech companies and educational institutions.

COE and Hiring

Be it succeeding in the hiring hunt challenge, leveraging your existing employees to meet the current technological standard of the industry, or introducing your employees to new tech skills, you need to future-proof your workforce. This is more like a long-term model for hiring but once an efficient Campus COE is set, hiring will become as easy as snacking. Since the initial network pathways are laid, faculty connections are made through Train the Trainer programs, and an overall healthy relationship is achieved, technical hiring is a additional advantage of a long-term campus-corporate cohesion. This will solve problems related to not just technical hiring but employer branding, employee training, reputation building, and entrepreneurship training.

Benefits of Setting up a Campus COE for Technical Hiring

• Training Your Tomorrow Workforce:

Create a tech learning space for students (future employees) and provide the latest or trending tech resources to college students prior to entering into the technological space or their job. These students will grow along with the company. Pre-equipping your future employees with your culture, values, and other dimensions of the company can make them a DAY-1 BILLABLE resource. “Human investment is now the best investment we can make,” says Tram Anh Nguyen, co-founder of CFTE.

• Day-1 Billable Resources:

Set up a proper hybrid Centre of Excellence Program (COE ) with our expert SMEs, a well-structured online IDE, and various skill assessments. Pre-train college students before their graduation, combine their academia with trending courses like Java Full Stack Development, Cloud Program, Data Engineering Program, and Front End Program. 

• Relationship with Renowned Universities:

The best thing any tech company can do is to maintain a harmonious rapport with qualified educational institutions with the best tech talents. We will help you build a pool of talents working with your L&D team and provide you with the right tools to interact with your future employees in a secure space.

The Evolving Technical Hiring Space

The pandemic has brought some whopping changes to the technical hiring ground.

TIME decides the job market and calamities like Corona create volatility in the tech roles.

What was significant an year ago, like Big Data and Data Analytics have know found the backseat since the role of Cybersecurity experts and Cloud-based Software developers are tremendously increasing. That’s where skill gap arises and technical recruiters along with the HR department of a company should be aware of it. While hiring for technical roles, skill gap should be addressed with empathy too. As we are slowly evolving into a hybrid work model, upskilling has become a fundamental commodity in the workplace. Let’s create such a space where learning and earning happen simultaneously.

If you’re looking to hire a developer in a less amount of time, you have a lot of ways to achieve it and the most crucial ones have been discussed in this write-up.

If you further want to expand your knowledge about the present job market, we’re all ears for your queries.

Give us a time and date for us to conduct an exclusive demo for you to improve your search for hiring the best developers in India.

Introduction

Given the market’s intense competitive nature, innovation is a constant occurrence. It is one of the factors that causes an organization’s goals and priorities to change. It necessitates recalibrating employees’ skills in terms of competencies that are consistent with the company’s goals. It is carried out by businesses by offering instruction to their workers. Continual focus on learning and development enables new employees to understand the means of leveling up to the company’s expectations and offers existing employees the opportunity to expand their knowledge base.

“If you believe that training is expensive, it is because you do not know what ignorance costs.”

Learning and improving workers’ skills makes economic sense, even though it is seen as a cost rather than an investment. It is a continuous phase that begins on the first day. In this rapidly rising economy, the real problem should be how businesses offer training to their employees and whether it is sufficient to affect employee development while still meeting business objectives.

When training programs are implemented in the company, enhanced employee performance and business productivity are naturally expected. But how can one know the effectiveness of a training program? Did employees grasp what they were expected to learn? Did they get the most out of the new knowledge at work? Did they achieve the objectives? And was the training initiative worth the organization’s investment? The answers to these questions will depend on the assessment of learning outcomes. In a nutshell, training courses are designed to impart new skills, but their efficacy requires systematically evaluating the training effectiveness.

 

What Is Training Effectiveness?

The effectiveness of training or e-training is a measure of how much learning increases employee performance; for example, how learning programs help teams develop their sales and leadership skills, increase their productivity, or accomplish a business goal. The Kirkpatrick Model is the most widely used method for assessing training effectiveness. Organizations use the model to assess a training program and its relevance in business.

The assessment of training effectiveness determines the extent to which training influences the trainee’s awareness, abilities, and actions. It’s a metric for how well training improves trainee results, such as how the workers strengthened their sales and soft skills, increased their productivity, or met business goals. The effectiveness of training is also measured in terms of a positive return on investment (return on financial investment). The ROI metric is useful at the end of the assessment process because it compares the learning results to the employer’s training investments in tangible and measurable terms. Training effectiveness assessment is the process of assessing the effectiveness of organizational training programs using scientifically based techniques. Begin by determining why, who, and what training is needed, and then evaluate the training that has been provided.

 

How Do You Measure the Effectiveness of Training?

There are a variety of ways (or methods) to assess the efficacy of training. These approaches become an important source of input and knowledge about the effectiveness of the applied training program, including sections that are not useful. These approaches will assist management in filling any capability gaps with appropriate training programs, allowing them to adopt the most effective training methods.

Organizations of all sizes, big and small, are not required to spend substantial funds or time in training effectiveness assessment. With proper preparation and forethought, excellent results can be obtained. To achieve the desired results, both company and training priorities must be compatible. For instance, an inbound call-center sets a target of efficiently answering sixteen percent more customer queries than the previous year.  Then the aligned training objectives include each representative enrolling in an online course on using advanced call-center software.

Employee training metrics should provide both qualitative and quantitative data (learner input about whether the training was beneficial to their job) (quiz score and completion rates). It is primarily up to the company to decide which goals and indicators to use. The best way to achieve results and track learning progress depends on the needs of each company’s training program.

 

Approach to Training

While there are many approaches for assessing training or  e-training efficacy, each has its own set of characteristics and advantages. Employee surveys, one-on-one meetings, case studies, and post-training quizzes are all standard methods for assessing training effectiveness. More data on employee learning performance can help companies assess the effectiveness of training programs.

The term ‘training program’ is often welcomed in the board rooms. The goal of these training courses—and most such programs—is to enhance execution and results. However, the way training is provided varies among organizations with differences in targets, products and employees. 68% of workers claim that training and development are the most crucial company policies.

Identifying the audience and the essence of the training is the first step in training employees. Most employers focus solely on the work position and build a one-size-fits-all evaluation.

Following the identification, the instruction is delivered using specific approaches such as seminars, group exercises such as roleplays and group discussions, as well as films and videos. The last but the most crucial step is to measure the effectiveness of the training programs – which most companies either refrain from or follow some ineffective ways that include merely recording the reaction of trainees or something on similar lines which has negligible effectiveness.

The methods of identification mentioned above are not all aligned with business goals. It is a waste of time and money because you have no way of knowing if the group in attendance is the same as the one targeted. Furthermore, you are oblivious to appropriate material. Furthermore, these methods do not guarantee that the software would be useful enough to involve employees.

 

Why Train?

Millennials … are more socially and globally connected … than any prior generation. And they don’t question; they learn.

Brad Smith

Everyone is not perfect. Most employees have some weak points or dark areas in their work skills, for which they need to be trained. The assessments could inform about the need for training, for they reflect deficiencies and competencies which need to be worked upon.

 

Who to Train?

Not all employees need to be trained. Neither do all employees need the same level of training. The assessments generate a full-fledged report of employees who need training.

 

What to Train On?

A person with sufficient product knowledge and inadequate presentation skills cannot suffice an organization’s needs. The managers should have a clear idea of what the training should comprise and which competencies are particularly needed.

 

Training Effectiveness – How To Measure The Effectiveness Of Employee Training Program

Customized Assessments: The stakeholders in most enterprises agree that a highly tailored, completely company-oriented test is a feasible alternative to their evaluation needs. Everyone prefers online evaluations over pen-and-paper assessments in today’s digital world, or in other words everyone prefered L&D through  e-training or e-learning.

They are systematic and objective tests that reveal information about an employee’s job personality. These evaluations are tailored to specific job functions. They are designed to assist candidates in maximizing their strengths while also addressing their areas of growth. Furthermore, these tests are simple to administer. Since the measurements are quantitative and objective, they are not subject to observer bias.

Compared to companies that don’t, companies that invest in employee training enjoy a 24% higher profit margin.

A situation may occur where ABC Company is unsure about the effectiveness of these training programs.

Let’s discuss training effectiveness.

 

Using the Modern Approach to Evaluating Training Effectiveness

Talking about the ABC Company, if it arranges training and development programs, it might know the necessity of evaluating training effectiveness and its ROI. Ultimately, nobody wants to spend valuable resources on training that does not provide better returns.

 

What is the impact of training on employees?

• Was the training or e-learning useful in helping participants increase practical learning and aptitudes?
• Could the learners apply what they learned and enhance their performance at work?

Pre-Assessment

First, each participant is given an assessment that determines their proficiency in essential competencies, which are a collection of skills needed to excel in a workplace through various job roles. These reports are necessary because we can’t move forward until we’ve found the right match between the applicant to train and the competency that needs to be improved.

Let’s presume an organization has enough expertise to recognize the training or e-learning requirements. In other words, it recognizes not only the workers need training, but also what type of training they need. For these situations, certain businesses have a better approach. For such businesses, the approach will be a pre-assessment that could predict an employee’s actual status in terms of competencies consistent with the company’s goals.

 

Effective Training

It could be a classroom or instructor-led instruction, or it could include interactive elements like quizzes, case studies, group discussions, or Q&A sessions on an e-learning platform such as neoHire. Video conferencing, audio conferencing, webinars, and distance learning services are examples of online activities that may be included in this package.

 

Post-Assessment – How to Measure Training Effectiveness?

The training is followed by measuring its effectiveness. Fortunately, some proven methodologies for measuring the training effectiveness already exist. One can successfully measure training effectiveness using the Kirk-Patrick Model.

 

The Kirk Patrick Model (The 4 Levels of Training Evaluation)

 

 

Reaction

This level measures how learners have responded to the training, including the critical aspects of the activity – utilizing reviews, questionnaires, or talking to participants to get honest feedback on the training experience.

This process could include:

• Finding out if the course content was easy and relevant
• Discussing the program’s strengths and weaknesses
• Asking about the key takeaways
• Know if the program was successful in matching the learner’s perception and learning style.
• At the end of this level, you should look for any gaps in the content.

Learning

You can measure what the trainees have learned and how much knowledge they have gained at this level. This step could include:

• Test scores amid and after the training or e-learning
• Assessment of connected learning ventures
• Course completion and accreditation

After going through these sets of metrics, assessment is done again (obviously with an enhanced set of questionnaires) after three months. This method could also fill the gaps and let the trainees know about themselves better, thus influencing the training effectiveness.

 

Behavior

This level indicates how trainees apply the information and how it has impacted their performance and attitude. It takes 360-degree feedback from supervisors, peers, and reporters. This includes:

• How has learning been actualized at work?
• Are the trainees sure to share their new abilities and learning to their companions?

Are the trainees aware that they’ve changed their behaviour?

 

Results

The last level comes down to the ‘why’ part of the training. It captures the difference in the participant’s behaviour before and after the program. It includes outcomes that the organization has determined to be good for business and employees. The learning outcomes may suggest:

• Increased employee retention
• Increased production
• Higher morale
• Improved business results

Training aims to improve individual and group performance, thus influencing the organization’s overall performance. Each successive level is a more precise measurement than the one before it. ABC Company conducted training programs in this manner, and also evaluated their effectiveness and effect on employees.

 

How will neoHire help?

 neoHire brings you efficient and precise tools for evaluating and training your employees. It is an e-Learning platform which can be used by HR’s for complete end-to-end Learning and Development for their employees. Now, measuring training effectiveness is incredibly easy with our custom-made assessments. These simple, reliable assessments will help you understand the training lifecycle to evaluate the training effectiveness. When decoding the training life cycle, four steps are involved: identifying training needs, administering pre-training assessments, training, and post-training assessments. Our useful analytical tools will enable you to measure the ROI of your training program. These data driven approach will help you finetune your training and deliver the best possible outcome. Our scalable platform also helps you conduct training for as much employees as you desire.

• Custom made Assessments
• Data driven analytical tools
• Scalable Platform
• Gamified Learning

Conclusion

Recognize the stumbling block in the training program you provide to your workers. It helps you achieve your business goals with a more logical approach when training aligns with the business and has a defined feedback mechanism for each partner. Employees at all levels understand what is expected of them, how to put their vision and principles into action, and what is required to succeed. Taking this techniques and constructing an e-Learning or L&D training program around it might be the perfect thing needed for your organization to drive to new heights.

Various steps are being taken by companies all over the world to ensure better recruiting practices and reduce unconscious bias during the recruitment process. In recent years, almost every company has made diversity and inclusion a top priority in recruitment, as executives seek to add more diverse talent to their teams.

What is interviewer bias in recruitment?

If anyone has a preconceived idea about someone they’re interviewing, it affects their judgement and makes the interview less impartial overall. Although interview bias is most commonly associated with qualitative research, it often applies to recruiting and has an effect on hiring decisions.

In a LinkedIn survey, 42% of respondents said bias of interviewers was a reason for interviews failing as an effective employee selection method.

Interviewing with unconscious bias is not only unequal and divisive, but it also results in poor hiring decisions and high turnover rates. Biased recruiting practices can also lead to legal issues in some cases.

Companies that use equitable and inclusive hiring practices, on the other hand, are more likely to be creative and successful. As a result, when recruiters take action to ensure that recruiting practices are fair and impartial in the recruitment funnel, which helps companies in a variety of ways.

Common interview biases that recruiters should keep in mind:

Cultural Noise

When an interviewee’s answers are based on what the interviewer feels the interviewer wants to hear rather than being truthful, this bias arises. It is a measure of the interviewer’s ability to tell the difference between a candidate’s socially appropriate response and their true opinion in this situation.

 

Stereotyping Bias

This happens when an interviewer believes a candidate has those characteristics since they belong to a particular party. If a work requires lifting 50 pounds, an interviewer will incorrectly believe that women are unable to meet this requirement.

 

Generalization Bias

Generalization bias can occur when interviewers assume candidates’ mannerisms in the interview are part of their everyday behaviour. The interviewer might assume what the candidate did once is what s/he would always do.

 

Halo/Horn Bias

The most common cognitive interview bias occurs when an interviewer allows one strong point about a candidate to overpower or influence anything else he or she says. It may be something he liked (halo) or something he didn’t like (horn) that obscures the candidate’s other responses, subjecting the interview to the interviewer’s subjective views.

The perfect example of this would be when the candidate being interviewed cannot converse well in English.

Even if his or her work may not require fluency in English, if the interviewer bases their decision on it, the interviewee’s performance may be excellent in their field, but the interviewee may still be rejected or approved solely due to a Halo bias.

A situation where the interviewee reveals his or her political viewpoint is another example of halo bias. If it aligns with the interviewer’s political views, the interviewer will choose that candidate over others simply because they share the same political views.

Recency Bias

Since our brains are hardwired to remember specifics of knowledge provided to us most recently, the interviewer remembers the most recently interviewed candidates more vividly than candidates interviewed earlier.

When an interviewer fails to take notes during each interview, it becomes impossible for them to remember every aspect of the interview, making it difficult for them to consider all applicants during the decision-making process.

Contrast Effect

 When a stronger candidate interviews after a weaker candidate, the latter will appear more competent than they are because the difference between the two candidates makes the former appear exceptionally better than they are. This becomes a dilemma that the interviewer must keep in mind as they conduct one interview after another.

eg: Multiple applicants are interviewed one after the other in a limited period of time during campus recruiting. This can impair the recruiter’s ability to interview all applicants objectively, and the interviewer may choose someone who is optimistic about his or her one internship experience over someone who seems timid and reserved but is more skilled.

How can we reduce this?

Start with building a diverse shortlist

Making a diverse shortlist of finalists is an excellent place to start. When introducing applicants to the hiring manager, divide them into various categories to create a diverse shortlist. This can help to minimize unconscious bias because people prefer to choose candidates from each group, resulting in more diverse choices being selected.

You may categorize candidates on a diverse shortlist by gender, nationality, ethnicity, or other similar diversity-related groupings. A Harvard Business Review study found that if your applicant pool only has one woman, she has a statistically zero chance of being recruited.

 

Standardize your interview process

Standardizing the interview process so that it has the same framework for and candidate is another perfect way to reduce interviewer bias. To start developing a rapport with a candidate without seeing them, you may want to start with a phone call, as this will help to prevent any prejudice induced by their presence.

Using a talent recruit software like neoHire will aid in this process of standardizing and will lessen the burden on your side. Make it a point to ask the same questions in the same order for and candidate during the phone screening and in-person (or virtual) interview. Bias is much more likely to affect unstructured interviews, while a simple framework makes it much easier to avoid because each interview is comparable. Try to ask open-ended interview questions, as they’re harder to look at subjectively and a better measure of competency.

Prepare interview scorecards

Many recruiters use interview scorecards to effectively rate applicants and make comparisons. Unconscious bias in interviews can be reduced by using interview scorecards with simple scoring criteria. When scoring candidates on interview scorecards, do so as soon as possible when the memories are still fresh.

If you have several interviewers, make sure they all know how to correctly use the interview scorecards so you can get the most out of them. To prevent problems of conformity bias, make sure that everyone rates a candidate before seeing other people’s assessments.

 

Define the job, not the person.

A true job description is a list of things that people must do rather than a list of things that they must possess. If an applicant can demonstrate during the interview that they have effectively handled similar work, it is obvious that they have all of the requisite skills and experience. This is usually not the same as what is listed on the job description. By identifying work as performance goals, you can attract a wider range of talent while also mitigating bias by evaluating a person’s past performance on similar work rather than their presentation skills and first impression.

 

Use reverse logic.

People are more relaxed when they meet a candidate they like right away, and more tense when this response is negative. Make a mental note of this any time you see a potential candidate. Soon, a trend will emerge. Recognizing your prejudices is the first step in controlling them. The majority of people look for constructive confirming data about people they like and negative confirming facts about people they don’t like.

 

Conclusion

It goes without saying that we’re all biased from time to time as people, even though it’s not a deliberate decision. However, it’s critical that we consider the numerous prejudices that emerge at various stages of the recruiting process and take the necessary measures to prevent them from influencing hiring and candidate selection.

Online methods of Interviewing and Evaluations such as on our Online recruitment and L&D platform can eliminate bias to a certain extend due to it’s advanced proctoring and auto evaluation features.

Interviewing is an important aspect of the hiring process, but it’s perhaps the most difficult to eliminate prejudice from. Having said that, there are still a number of steps you should take to make the interview process as objective as possible.

So, where do we go from here? You can start eliminating interviewer bias right now if you follow these suggestions and make it a point to educate yourself about best practices on a regular basis.

Tech skills are no longer exclusive to the IT department. They are now used by anyone from administrative assistants to factory employees. Simple computer skills, such as quick typing, basic research, and MS Office knowledge, are required for almost every job. To you, what does “tech-savvy” imply? Is it someone who can fix a programming problem or edit an Excel spreadsheet? Or someone who can build an email marketing campaign and update a blog page once a week?

Checking a candidate’s tech knowledge is crucial, since they should be able to use the most popular resources for the job, or at the very least be willing to learn how to use them. This will also assist you in narrowing down the applicant list to the best candidates.

Let us list down the questions you can ask to identify whether the candidate you are looking to hire is tech savvy or not.

 

Do you use any online tools or resources to find answers to the problems you encounter at work?

This query assesses a candidate’s ability to use a search engine. How-to guides and basic research can be found in abundance on Google and other online resources. A tech-savvy employee can use these tools to solve problems efficiently at home and at work on a daily basis.

 

What technologies do you utilize on a day-to-day basis?

This question can be used to determine whether or not an applicant is familiar with the technologies used at your company.

Candidates who are unfamiliar with the hardware and software you use would almost certainly need training before they can perform at their best. An applicant who uses the efficiency software in your home office, on the other hand, will be familiar with each application’s ins and outs.

They’ll arrive more productive than the average employee on day one. You can ask about specific technologies with this question if there’s a key technology that you want a candidate to have experience using.

 

Looking from the perspective of your last job, were there technologies that would have made you more productive?

Employees who are tech-savvy aren’t just knowledgeable about how to use and troubleshoot technology. They also consider how technology will help them be more efficient during their day. They make recommendations to their bosses when they find a workplace or team that isn’t using technology to its full potential.

When an employer falls behind in technology, tech-savvy workers are more aware of it, and some will leave as a result. Listen for clues on how a candidate’s previous employers used or didn’t use technology during their response and employees who are tech-savvy are more likely to notice ways to develop business processes and applications first.

 

Tell us about the time you had to troubleshoot a computer program. How did you resolve it?

For this question, you can fill in the program with any application that you’d expect the candidate to use daily.

The technical support load that employees place on a company’s IT department impacts its ability to develop more productive information systems.  A candidate who can demonstrate basic troubleshooting skills with computer software will solve common glitches themselves instead of calling the IT department.

 

What sort ways do you expect technology to change how you work into the future?

Another way to assess a candidate’s technical aptitude is to inquire about their thoughts on how technology will impact the workplace. Employees who are tech-savvy are also the first to embrace emerging technology before the rest of the business.

They think about future technology and how it will affect their lives more than the average person. A tech-savvy candidate should be eager to share their ideas about where technology is going in the future.

 

When you create presentations, what software do you use?

If the job requires you to give presentations, you should inquire about the candidate’s approach to developing visual aids and planning for them. You may learn about online slideshow apps rather than the default Microsoft PowerPoint responses, depending on how tech savvy they are.

You can give them bonus points if they mention looking for models online or researching their presentation subject.

If your business has switched to cloud-based applications, candidates who are used to online or cloud apps will have the necessary skills.

 

What Software Problems Have You Faced in the Past, and How Did You Solve Them?

No matter how knowledgeable, eventually everyone will have to troubleshoot a pesky program.

Employees who can problem-solve on their own will save you valuable time. Even if they can’t find a solution to every issue, they can narrow down the list of possibilities for tech support.

Ask the applicant to guide you through a technical problem they’ve already solved. Making the question more general would enable applicants to demonstrate their ability to think creatively. The aim isn’t to offer a “right” response, but to show how they can look for answers on their own first and know when they need support.

 

How Do You Stay Up-to-date with Changes in the Technical Field?

Even if a position only uses a few software programs, it’s likely that they’ll upgrade and adjust their settings at some point. Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe Photoshop are well-known for updating their user interfaces and functionality on a regular basis.

Candidates should be comfortable adapting to changes, whether in the software itself or in company workflow. An ideal candidate works to solve issues themselves and knows where to seek help when they are stuck.

Some questions you can ask to determine how well the candidate handles change include:

• How would you respond if you opened your app to find the layout had changed?
• Do you know how to upgrade apps or switch on auto-update features?
• What kinds of problems can you want to tackle on your own? When would you go to management with a problem?

Some useful responses include trial-and-error for a new software upgrade, looking for a support guide in the program or on the internet, and consulting company documents for guidance. A tech-savvy candidate would be willing to try out features on their own and will know who to contact if they are unable to resolve their problem. They’ll even know when to take a problem to the next level. Security threats, changes that could result in lost data, or updates that go against the current company guidelines are all good examples of when an employee should seek out management or IT for guidance.

 

How Would You Describe a Tech-savvy Employee?

You will figure out what abilities they already have and what they consider valuable by listening to their own definition of tech-savvy. And if their current abilities aren’t quite up to par, this may give your insight into what areas they want to develop. You may also inquire about their favorite gadgets and services. If you like Adobe Photoshop, you’ll probably enjoy learning other image editing applications as well. QuickBooks users can learn how to use a variety of accounting tools.

An applicant who is familiar with a particular program will usually pick up similar software easily. It isn’t necessarily important to recruit someone who is knowledgeable about the specific services you use. Rather you want someone who can adapt their skills to your preferred choices.

 

Conclusion

 

Tech-savvy employees are a true asset to each workplace. They bring a problem-solving mindset to work and increase the business’s bottom line dramatically as they recover quickly from problems and realize new ways to get more done.