7 Essential Hiring Tips for Startups

The world of startup companies – unpredictable, flexible, thrilling, evolving, and gratifying.

Offering plenty of possibilities, it’s no wonder so many candidates are eyeing opportunities in the industry – recognizing a startup’s merit, placing trust in its passion and mission, and welcoming probable risks.

The initial stages of hiring can be challenging, but as we well know, the people in a company are its core foundation to success, perhaps more so for startup companies.

Hire Someone When the Need Comes  

Nathaniel Koloc, co-founder and CEO of ReWork, a mission-driven talent firm recommends startup founders to put away their reluctance of hiring just because they can’t entirely afford it.

An additional mind, hands and legwork that another person provides will be worth it given the right candidate. The rewards of hiring talent when the need arises will outweigh the costs of low-quality output that comes when employees are overstretched.

Hire Purposely While Looking for Potential

For startups, hiring is not just simply filling another position; every candidate it takes in will play a significant role in building the culture and future of the company. Can they align well with the startup’s ideas and missions?

Years of experience, graduate degrees and track records are not everything; an efficient hiring manager, knowing the clear purpose of where the company would like to be, will be able to make the first few hires successful.

It is also important to spot and tap into the underlying potential of a candidate – namely their potential to acquire and utilize skills, their potential leadership qualities, and their potential to grow with the company.

At the same time, take into account notable achievements from the past to evidence that a candidate can walk the talk.

Attitude Will Identify the Cultural Fit

A startup is a good place of learning. When the company is relatively small, it’s easier to instill new skills into employees. But while a good set of skills is noteworthy to begin with, there are also things that can’t be learned such as attitude and work ethics.

As motivation and willingness cannot be taught, a candidate’s attitude will decide whether they have the ability to make a productive work dynamic with different personalities in the workplace.

To do this, have all key people interview the best candidate using behavioral interviews alongside the standard kinds.

While knowledge is important, focus as well on personality, determination and emotional intelligence. Candidates who are self-motivated and keen to learn will likely be a good cultural fit in a startup.

Allow Applicants to Demonstrate Skills with Little Direction

It can be easy for some applicants to display confident answers in interviews, eventually winning the hiring manager over, but what’s more important is the demonstration of their skills to know how valuable they can be.

Have applicants undergo an actual work situation where they need to complete a specific task, with only few directions to guide them. Doing so will reveal how they will navigate tasks, whether they can take initiative, and if they will go that extra mile.

Making Them Feel Vital to Your Success

It’s important to recognize that your people are dedicating their skills and effort the moment they start with you. In return, as responsible employers, you should show that you care about their development and future with the company.

Your people are the ones that drive your company forward and it’s important for them to feel to that their efforts and contributions are not only being put to use, but also that they are treated as vital parts of the company’s success.

Build an Onboarding Process

The best way to show a company’s culture and goals is to have a proper onboarding process, as well as to ensure your new hire’s first weeks flow smoothly.

A week before a new hire’s start and after preparing all the paperwork, set up their workstation and the tools and tech they need. Create an office tour, team welcome, and session to discuss the company history, goals, culture, among many others.

As a startup, no matter how young the company, it’s also important to ensure the legality of your documents for your new hires so that they know they are legally protected.

Find People Who Can Roll with the Punches

In a startup, where coming onto unpredictable circumstances in the norm, creativity and flexibility should be hand-in-hand.

Ideal candidates should have a combination of innovative thinking and high flexibility, in order to solve problems efficiently, while being adaptable enough to take on tasks that may not be within their role.

Startups need people who can demonstrate resolve. They also need the ability to take ownership of their actions and turn a vision into reality.

With limited resources and the need to be fast, flexible and innovative, it is essential to hire candidates who can truly demonstrate their ability to adapt, turn words into action, and align themselves with the culture and mission of the startup — can they walk the talk?

The post 7 Essential Hiring Tips for Startups appeared first on Sprout.

source https://sprout.ph/blog/essential-hiring-tips/

3 Reasons Why Recruiters SHOULD Call Candidates Back

There are several articles on the internet for candidates that don’t receive a call back from recruiters: “X Reasons Why Your Recruiter Hasn’t Called You Back” “Why Recruiters Don’t Call Back” “Is Your Recruiter Ignoring You?”

But the real question is: should this even be a norm?

Should calling back an unsuccessful candidate to let them know they didn’t get the job be the recruiter’s obligation?

Well, if you want to be at the top of the game in your industry… it should.

It Helps Your Employer Brand

A lot of candidates will primarily judge a company by their reputation and oftentimes will make a decision based on that— which is why employer branding is so important.

To do this, businesses have to figure out what they want their identity as an employer to be. With the employer brand they create, the goal is to attract their ideal candidates. This extends beyond an employee’s experience in the company after being hired and into the very beginning in the job application process.  

With a good employer brand, companies can establish the culture they want in their company by hiring candidates that fit their vision. As a result, employees are able to thrive in their own departments and help the company grow into what it aims to be.

First Impressions are Critical Decision Makers  

It is in the job application process where the candidates will get their first peek into the company’s culture. Candidates use this first impression as an indicator of how your company treats your people — and should they choose to work with you — how you’d treat them as well.

That’s why a bad application process can do your company more harm than good.

Not only would you risk losing a possibly good candidate, you also risk several potential candidates as well. As a result, your reputation as an employer is tarnished in the candidate market.

Your Bad Rep Will Help Your Competitors

Word of mouth travels faster than ever before: with the myriad of online platforms for candidates to blast a bad experience, companies should make it a priority to give them an encounter that will have them sing praises about your company.  

Letting unsuccessful candidates know that they didn’t get the job could be easily overlooked as recruiter schedules are packed, leaving the task put at the bottom of the list of to-dos. But leaving them with a good experience will get them to recommend your company to others in their network.

A bad experience, on the other hand, will have them warning their peers to try somewhere else, in the same industry— possibly with your competitors. And do note that a bad experience is shared twice as often as good ones.

The main takeaway here is that it’s not an employer market anymore — no one is lining up at your door to be your employee.

It is now up to you as an employer to figure out the most efficient way to build your brand to attract the best candidates as well as have them spread the word about your company to other great candidates.

To do that, your application experience is the way to go. It’s where you meet the most candidates with a different collection of networks that they could possibly share their experience with your company with; good or bad and whether or not they get the job.

So it’s best to give them a job application experience that they come out feeling satisfied with despite the outcome. That way, you boost your company’s reputation as an employer in your industry.

Oh, and don’t forget to call them back to give them the news!

 

The post 3 Reasons Why Recruiters SHOULD Call Candidates Back appeared first on Sprout.

source https://sprout.ph/blog/recruiterscallback/

Philippine Recruitment Trends in 2019

The workplace is ever-changing, affecting the culture, the environment, and the techniques being utilized at work such as in recruitment, one of the key points of a successful and continuously growing company.

As technological advancements continue to take the world by storm, everyone else must follow suit, and the Philippine recruitment landscape must only look forward and keep its doors open to the oncoming developments.

Various recruitment consultancies identify the following as emerging recruitment trends that are expected to continue to shape the industry in the coming years: Cognitive Automation (CA), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Virtual Reality (VR), and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Cognitive Automation: Human-like thinking ability

Companies are currently using robotic process automation (RPA), where employees allow a robot to process data, manage transactions, and more.

But RPA still needs improvements for it to complement the recruitment process– which brings us to cognitive automation (CA). With CA, robots will have the thinking ability close to humans, but worry not, as experts emphasize that this does not mean that human capabilities will be replaced.

CA’s key point is to complement our human skills.

With these technologies at hand, many tasks can be broken down so that HR people can devote more time to important human capacities such as devising strategies, sourcing talents, screening and evaluating, and developing workplace culture.

Natural Language Processing: Understanding human language

Computers will also need to understand human language better by speaking it and even distinguishing human emotions through natural language processing (NLP).

With the use of NLP, recruitment procedures can be more accurate and more efficient. Some examples are extracting data in resumes, identifying right candidates, monitoring social media channels and analyzing employee feedback. NLP would help to streamline these tasks and will be important in making hiring decisions.

Virtual Reality: No longer just for gaming

Virtual reality (VR) is no longer exclusively for gaming development. In fact, Hanover Recruitment thinks virtual reality (VR) will also have a big impact on recruitment.

VR is predicted to make waves in talent acquisition, interviews, office tours, on-boarding, and learning and development.

Companies need to show potential new hires that they are innovative. For instance, conducting a virtual office tour would attract the interest of many millennial applicants in a candidate market.

In interviews, on-boarding and training, VR can save time and cost for the company. Recruiters can carry out live face-to-face interviews wherever they are, have applicants go through virtual situations to assess their abilities, speed up the process of new hire orientation, and learn skills or attend workshops in different locations.

General Data Protection Regulation: Data audit and safety guarantee

The general data protection regulation (GDPR) was approved by the European Union (EU) last year. While the GDPR is generally applicable to companies within the EU, the Philippine landscape is bound to be affected, especially for those with subsidiaries and partners from the region.

For now, we have the Data Privacy Act (RA 10173) to guide companies and its respective recruitment departments to organize a data audit – to maintain as little personal information as possible, and to ensure the safety of company websites as more candidates submit applications online.

Recognizing employee rights is also important in 2019 and beyond – letting them know the how’s, why’s and who’s when it comes to sharing their data.

Much like most industries, technological advancements and creativity will influence the future of recruitment. As recruitment is the backbone of any company, it is even more important to pay attention to these industry trends.

The post Philippine Recruitment Trends in 2019 appeared first on Sprout.

source https://sprout.ph/blog/philippine-recruitment-trends-2019/

Lisanne — Finding Passion in Events Planning (Sprout Rockstar of the Month)

Lisanne is a Marketing Communications Officer at Sprout Solutions. This month she shares with us her experiences finding herself in her career in events.

 

Moving to Manila

“I grew up in Baguio and only moved to Manila when I was 16 years old for college at Ateneo de Manila University.

It wasn’t so difficult to adjust because Manila has always been my second home. I would be here every holiday and a lot of my relatives live here. When I started school I moved into a dorm and I was lucky enough that we were like a family: everyone in the dorm including the guards, secretaries, and other students were all really close it was like a big sleepover every day.

The hardest thing to adjust to was the weather. It was so hot my cheeks were always so red and got a tan!”

 

Love for Events

“When I was a kid I wanted to be a doctor. Even until high school, I was so sure I wanted to take that route but then after watching my cousin who went into med school, I realized the lifestyle wasn’t for me.

Then I did a semester of environmental science when I was a freshman in college, which I found also not to be a good fit for me so considered all the things I was good at and interested in, and it led me to communications. I shifted into BS communication technology management— which was basically my school’s version of marketing.

Ironically enough, I used to be a shy kid. I couldn’t even talk to family members I couldn’t recognize. But people saw my potential when I did speak out so I decided to keep practicing in front of a mirror first. Then slowly, I involved myself in more projects and progressively more comfortable in front of a crowd. I even tried hosting and enjoyed it a lot.

I thought I’d end up in a PR firm because it was in college my love for events grew and I knew that’s what I wanted to be doing afterwards. I joined a lot of organizations— 7 throughout my 4 years— and I planned a lot of events for each.

I love bringing plans to life, particularly executing them and seeing ideas materialize piece by piece. I also love the bond that I form with the people I work with for the events. You go through a lot of hardships. You’ll often reminisce and ask each other, “Remember when we didn’t sleep for 24 hours just to plan that one event?”

 

The Challenge with Losing a Mom

“It was almost finals week of my first semester of senior year. I was hosting a big event and my mom had called me that afternoon because I had borrowed money from her for one of my events and she was asking for it back. I told her I’d call her back later.

Right after the event, I got a call saying that they had rushed my mom to the hospital. I wasn’t aware of how critical the situation was until I got to the hospital and the doctor told me that she had suffered a cardiac arrest and to expect the worst. The next day, she passed away at noon.

My siblings live abroad and have their own families and I never met my dad so it was really just my mom and I. I was 19 when my she passed away, and it was at that moment I realized I had been plunged into adulthood because I now had the responsibilities of taking care of myself.

I was scared and never felt so abandoned in my entire life— of course, I had my friends and family, but it’s not the same as having an immediate family. I was at the transitional stage from college to the “real world” and I didn’t have my mom to guide me.

It was finals week when my mom passed away, so I had many responsibilities to return to after her cremation. Waking up was hard knowing that I didn’t have my mom anymore, but I knew all she wanted was for me to graduate, so that’s what pushed me through my last semester.

I thought I wanted to work right after graduation, but my brother planned a trip for me so I took a few months off to grieve and realign with myself. At first, it was hard to not have anything to do. When my friends were getting jobs I would get pressured but I really did need to take the time. It turned out for the best because I needed to be surrounded by family again.”

 

Getting the First Job

“After my 6-month break, I got a random call for a position that I didn’t even apply for. I didn’t know what Sprout was and I had done little research with what they did but when you’re job hunting you just take every opportunity that comes to you.

Apparently, my manager then had found me through Kalibrr and it just so happened that one of his team members knew me from college and had confirmed that I was a good fit. I went to the interview and I was hired on the spot. I knew from there that I was going to be in good hands.

I started as an HR tech consultant (sales position). It was scary because I had no idea about tech, HR and payroll and no background in sales. I actually avoided sales jobs when I was job hunting and turned down many offers.

But because I trusted the people I was working with, I gave it a chance. They were very patient with us while we were learning the industry and product. I ended up doing well for the first half of the year but I struggled in the latter part. I knew I wasn’t hitting my numbers in sales and that lead me to question whether I should stay in Sprout or not. But though I wasn’t hitting my quota management wanted me to stay with Sprout so we decided that I could try marketing because my skillset matched what they needed. I also worked closely to the marketing team throughout my sales experience having been there go-to sales representative for events. I had grown close to marketing as well.

So now I handle events, press releases, and help the customer success, product, and sales teams wherever they need me. And that’s where I found my place in Sprout.”

 

Plans for the future

“Some things I’ve been toying around in my head is wedding planning, events styling, or interior design.

Lately the last two years, I’ve been into interior design because I love styling events. I watch a lot of HDTV and read a lot of articles in my spare time, so these plans aren’t too far off from what I do now.”

 

The post Lisanne — Finding Passion in Events Planning (Sprout Rockstar of the Month) appeared first on Sprout.

source https://sprout.ph/blog/lisanne-sproutrockstar/

Get Back Into Work Mode After the Holidays

So you get to a few days off to relax and enjoy time with your family or clear your mind before work begins again and you have to get right back to it.

Before you know it, you’re sitting at your desk trying to recalibrate to the hectic pace of work. You might even feel the post-holiday blues that hold you back from getting you into normal “work mode.”

But alas, there is work to be done and you have to get back to it. Here are some ways to ease yourself into the rhythm of work.

 

Make a To-do List

When you first get into the office and plop down at your desk, you might be left wondering— where do you even start? Spend the night before your first day back or even the last day before you go on vacation listing the things you need to get done when you return.

 

Get to Work Early

Ease yourself back into the work environment and arrive at a time when the office is still quiet and relatively empty. Use the time to have time to sit and organize your thoughts and tasks for the day. It’s also a good time to get tasks that you can get done before your coworkers need to ask you for help in other things.

 

Breakdown Your Tasks

If you need to accomplish things that seem long and arduous, break them down into smaller tasks. This way, you aren’t overwhelmed with one big assignment and can tackle more manageable ones one by one.

 

Take Small Breaks

Trying to accomplish tasks one after the other straight out of vacation might burn you out quickly. Don’t tire yourself out right on the get-go and take a quick break every few hours to reset your mind before delving into work again!

Plan Something Exciting After Work

Organize a dinner or book a spa appointment after work so you have something to look forward to when you get back. It’s normal to dread coming back to work after a relaxing vacation, but if you plan a treat on the same day, your first day back won’t look so bad.

 

Sleep Well the Night Before

Don’t start the first day back at work sleep-deprived— it’ll make your day much harder than it should be. Wake up refreshed and ready to tackle the day by getting the full 8 hours of rest before the day after your vacation. That way, you are mentally prepared for the day.

 

Coming back to work after the holidays can be tough: one day you’re relaxing somewhere on holiday then the next you’re at the office trying to wrap your head around the things you have to accomplish.

Bottom line is you really have to ease yourself into it and go through the process of getting used to the fast-paced work environment. But with some preparation and the right mindset, you’ll get right through it.

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Sprout Solutions is an automated HR and payroll software that takes care of your manual administrative tasks. Book a demo with us here to find out how we can help your company grow.

The post Get Back Into Work Mode After the Holidays appeared first on Sprout.

source https://sprout.ph/blog/get-back-work-mode-holidays/

It’s 2019: Time to Automate HR and Payroll

In the midst of the new year, it’s just about time to think about how your company plans to tackle 2019.

We are in the middle of a digital revolution— which means the global economy is transforming and evolving with the rise of technology.

What this also means is that the businesses have to realize that the HR function in a company has evolved from solely administrative work to one with more strategic human resource planning that greatly affects the whole growth process of a company.

Nowadays, HR teams are multifaceted; they are required to have high skills in problem-solving, strategizing, and creativity as they are the very core of any business’s growth. They are in charge of selecting candidates that match the company’s vision, nurture the employer-employee relationships, and provide an office environment that allows its people to thrive in their own positions.

The role of HR is redefined and requires more bandwidth and responsibilities from the team. Because of this, with the help of technology, administrative tasks, although just as important, can be automated to save several hours or even days of work for HR teams.

This forces the industry to be more tech-oriented. With the heavy workload, menial tasks should be offloaded into the software so that HR teams can focus more on employee and company growth.

The HR and payroll processes in a typical company in the Philippines is done manually, which often takes days or weeks of processing and leaves plenty of room for error.

The Philippines is bursting with potential in joining the global business scene, but not without making some changes to be able to focus on growth.

Unfortunately, local businesses are typically reluctant to make the switch to automation; whether it be allotting budget for the software, concerns about job security, or reservations about putting information in the cloud.

However, businesses need to focus and embrace the change that is coming with the rise of technology. Because as the world moves forward with technology, it’s easy to get left behind.

Sprout Solutions advocates the transformation in HR in emerging markets. Businesses in Southeast Asia, particularly in the Philippines, is bursting with potential and can join the rapid development of the global economy. But to do that, companies need to start investing in automating HR to prioritize growth.

The post It’s 2019: Time to Automate HR and Payroll appeared first on Sprout.

source https://sprout.ph/blog/2019-time-automate-hr-payroll/

Official Philippine Holidays 2019

Plan your holidays accordingly with the Official Philippine Holidays for 2019!

Proclamation No. 555 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte states that there will be 10 regular holidays and 9 special non-working holidays.

The dates of Eid’l Fitr and Eidul Adha are still yet to be confirmed.

https://www.officeholidays.com/countries/philippines/2019.php

 

You can refer to our graphics below:

 

You can also check out our list here:

Regular Holidays in 2019:

 

January 1, 2019 (Tuesday) – New Year’s Day

April 9, 2019 (Tuesday) – Araw ng Kagitingan

April 18, 2019 – Maundy Thursday

April 19, 2019 – Good Friday

May 1, 2019 (Wednesday) – Labor Day

June 12, 2019 (Wednesday) – Independence Day

August 26, 2019 (last Monday of August) – National Heroes’ Day

November 30, 2019 (Saturday) – Bonifacio Day

December 25, 2019, (Wednesday) – Christmas Day

December 30, 2019 (Monday) – Rizal Day

 

Special (Non-Working) Holidays in 2019:

 

February 5, 2019 (Tuesday) – Chinese New Year

February 25, 2019 (Monday) – EDSA Revolution Anniversary

April 20, 2019 – Black Saturday

August 21, 2019 (Wednesday) – Ninoy Aquino Day

November 1, 2019 (Friday) – All Saints’ Day

November 2, 2019 (Saturday) – All Soul’s Day

December 8, 2019, Sunday – Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

December 24, 2019 (Tuesday) – Christmas Eve

December 31, 2019 (Tuesday) – last day of the year

 

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Sprout Solutions is an HR and payroll software company in the Philippines. We would love to help you grow your company with our products- book a demo with us here.

The post Official Philippine Holidays 2019 appeared first on Sprout.

source https://sprout.ph/blog/official-holidays-ph-2019/