It's Almost Time for the AAAED National Conference

What's in Store at the 41st AAAED National Conference?

Aside from being in beautiful New Orleans, Louisiana, AAAED will provide in-depth opportunities for HR professionals to provide equal opportunities for all employees. Topics such as OFCCP compliance, diversity hiring, and employee inclusion are just a few items on the conference agenda. More specifically, AAAED plans to credit and appreciate Executive Order 11246, the 50th anniversary of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and how these landmarks affect us today. This is surely a conference you won't want to miss.

Come See SourceCast in New Orleans

SourceCast is excited to be exhibiting at the 41st AAAED conference! If you're coming to the conference, stop by booth #8.At the booth, SourceCast will have a number of giveaways going on with chances to win the grand prize on Thursday, June 4. A member of the SourceCast team would love to meet you and fill you in on exciting SourceCast news, enter you to win in our giveaway drawing, or to just say hi and meet you. We look forward to another great turnout at AAAED, and we can't wait to see everyone there!

Thank You, DEAM15!

Another year, another great DEAM!

Once again, DirectEmployers put on another amazing conference filled with informative sessions, motivating speakers, and many good, lasting connections made. They sure know how to put on a good conference! This year, the topics revolved a good deal around recruitment and compliance and how the two can and should be interrelated. During the sessions, we observed great focus, connection, and understanding between the speakers and attendees. You can’t ask for anything better than to see people having their “aha” moment during these presentations and networking events, involving key topics affecting HR today.

Last chance to say hello to the Olaf guys

If you haven’t had a chance to stop by and see our NEW Olaf USB drives, please come by, say hello, and snag the last remaining Olaf flash drives.  We couldn’t be happier to be at DEAM15 and help underwrite this amazing event. As always, Indianapolis and DirectEmployers treated us very well. So, thank you DEAM15 attendees and DirectEmployers for the fun AND productive sessions and networking events.

Give Thanks; Give Back - 5 Veteran Hiring Companies

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During the holidays, our emotional, appreciative side tends to make its grand entrance. We become nostalgic, say "thank you" like it's a seasonal fad, and we eat, boy do we eat. However, this season, a new tradition has started that isn't merely trending or posing to be seasonal. This holiday season, we've seen a huge investment in veteran hiring. Many companies are coming out of the woodwork with plans and programs designated to hire and thank our veterans. In honor of these companies giving back to our courageous veterans, SourceCast would like to give an honorable salute to these inspiring companies.

According to Fortune Magazine, here are the top 5 Fortune 500 companies making a difference with veteran hiring:

1. JP Morgan Chase: Back in 2011, JP Morgan and a number of other companies initiated the 100,000 Jobs Mission. Already, 117,000 vets have been hired through the program. Now, JP Morgan is increasing the goal to 200,000 veterans. We salute you, JP Morgan!
2. Disney: In March of 2012, Disney started their program, "Heroes Work Here." The goal was to hire 1,000 veterans by 2015. That goal was met in the program's first year. Now, their goal is 2,000 vets by 2015. We salute you, Disney!
3. Starbucks: With a CEO dedicated to the veteran cause, Starbucks has made a commitment to hire at least 10,000 veterans and current military spouses by 2018. Talk about one hot cup of dedication. Starbucks, we salute you!
4. Capital One Financial: Capital One launched its program “Hiring 500,000 Heroes” and donated $4.5 million to fund the initiative. The program is dedicated to matching qualified veterans and military spouses with local small business opportunities. We salute you, Capital One!
5. Booz Allen Hamilton: Booz Allen has long celebrated veterans. Currently, an estimated 1/3 of the Booz Allen workforce consists of veterans. Booz Allen provides a multitude of veteran accommodations such as: the ability to work remotely, leave and return strategies for reserve soldiers, support groups for spouses, and disability accommodations. Booz Allen, we salute you!

Whether you're a large or small company, have billions in revenue or nothing at your disposal, let's all find our holiday spirit and help those who have unselfishly helped us in ways we cannot imagine. Veteran hiring is so crucial, and not because it's right or we have regulations to uphold, but this talent pool is more apt to the job than many even realize. This holiday season let's all give thanks; and give back.

Source: Fortune

Veterans Day: There's More Work to Be Done

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We got a little excited when we learned, leading up to this past Veterans Day, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the past year had seen a decline in the unemployment rate of veterans from 7 to 6.5%. Unfortunately, this is still noticeably higher than the national unemployment rate of 5.8%. Therefore, as the holiday season is just on the horizon, sparking in us a generosity to towards humanity, may we not ignore a deep gratitude toward our veterans. What do we mean? Allow the meaning of this past Veterans Day to resonate with you as you're heavily focused on end of the year recruitment. Veterans are the perfect hires for so many more reasons than you may realize.

We've been in the business of distributing jobs for veterans for quite some time now. So, we tend to hear through the grapevine about the success our customers have had. Constantly, we hear how their new veteran recruits:

• Take initiative: Under high pressure constantly, vets understand the need to start and complete tasks with the least amount of collateral interference.
• Are excellent contributors: Vets are keenly aware of the concept of teamwork and how important that is to complete tasks at hand.
• Maintain excellent attendance: Veterans are trained to perform in any condition and circumstance, and excuses for absence or poor performance are unusual for this group.
• Are technologically savvy: Vets are trusted with some of the most cutting edge technology in the world, with many fields interrelated, training is easier with this group.
• Learn and adapt quickly: In combat situations, there's no time to waste. Veterans are quick learners, light on their feet, and quite flexible to adjust to their environments.

This feedback provides a glimpse into workforces that hire veterans. Our veterans have been unwaveringly deployed into battle for us, so let’s have some faith and show our gratitude by continuing to lower the veteran unemployment rate, and allowing our vets to show us even more of what they're made of in our workplaces.

Source: TLNT

Hiring for Fit and Your Company Culture

As we mentioned last week, there's a lot of talk on the "right" way to recruit. As we also said, there's always going to be a debate, because nobody is the same and we all have opinions based on subjectivity. This next controversial hiring tip follows the same beat. What if we hired based on pure skill level and leadership potential? That is to say, what if we threw "hiring for the right fit," right out the window? Now that's an interesting concept.

Hiring for Fit: Wrong Approach?

Laurie Ruettimann has been known for her controversial standings on HR issues. Her latest opinion criticizes hiring for fit. Personally, we here at SourceCast find this quite intriguing. For an organization to continue functioning, can we completely throw out the notion of finding an employee that can fit into a well-greased machine of a company? The concept seems somewhat flawed, doesn't it?

If We're Not Hiring for Fit...

Suffice it to say, we're not sure what we believe. On one hand, no leader was ever born as a mere follower, someone acknowledging and accepting ideas and truths without question. There's something to be said with employing the "thinkers," those who are always thinking about new ideas, ways to critique and strengthen current practices, and those who seem to just shake things up. However, hiring an entire workforce with their own unique mentalities could cause friction, allowing nothing to get done without painful amounts of idea gridlocks. In our minds, there has to be a single direction, a line of focus to a goal. That means hiring people who mesh into the organization's culture (i.e., the CEO's vision) but also hiring those that have their own vision, who can enhance the company's goals or vision and take leadership to get you there.

Instead of hiring for fit, HR, as Ms. Ruettimann says, "[has] an obligation to advocate on behalf of the cranky, grouchy, unlikeable employees who question everything and don't go along with the flow." HR also has the obligation to advocate on behalf of those passionate, obedient, and loveable employees who also act like worker bees, coercing together beautifully to accomplish goals. Our workforces need both these types of employees. This calls for a shout out to the surge of non-discrimination laws: we don't discriminate in hiring practices or towards those who do or don't follow a company's "culture or fit."

Source: TLNT

Recruitment: One Goal, a Million Paths to Get There

Recruitment has and will always be a buzzword in HR, but it's also been surrounded with controversy. What controversy, you may ask? Well, throughout our newsfeeds, email subscriptions, and other morning coffee reads, it's always safe to say that we'll see some article on the "5 Best Recruitment Practices" or "Recruiting the Right Way," etc. Clearly, there's controversy as everyone thinks they've struck gold with their latest-and-greatest recruitment breakthrough. People will always talk, and we will always listen…until we tune out due to a lack of statistical or at least "meaningful" evidence. Trust me, we're skeptics too when we read recruitment hot topics, but I think we've hit the recruitment jackpot when we observe the company named Zappos, an Amazon-owned retail business, and their recruitment model. I mean seriously, the jackpot is not proverbial in this sense; HR could be saving their companies a lot of money by infusing their organizations with new recruitment zen.

Recruitment Starts with Employee Engagement

According to Zappos, recruitment starts with employee engagement and appreciation. Zappos seemingly puts their employees first, often offering incentives and creating an environment where an employee feels appreciated and excited to work. They focus organically to create this sense of trust and dedication to the company and the brand. With a loyal workforce, Zappos allows potential new hires to chat with current employees, yielding tremendous amounts of applicants after hearing workplace praises from current employees. For years, Zappos has been listed as one of the "Best Companies to Work For," hands down due to the environment they've created by putting people first. In turn, they've ramped up their social presence and have taken to these mediums to turn up the volume of their happy community to 11 for the world to see. And what do you know, people are responding to it.

Recruitment Works Inside Out

This is the kind of environment we should all try to simulate. By focusing internally, you're ultimately assisting your external perception. In turn, recruitment sort of works itself out. Posting on job boards and using recruitment services are great; don't think we're anti-traditional hiring practice. However, the difference between the major and minor leagues of recruitment is your companies' work environment. Would your employees speak highly of your workplace? Could you rely on them to attract applicants? Do you have a strong, lasting relationship with your workforce? If you’re unsure or answer no to any of these questions, maybe it's time to reevaluate your recruitment strategies, starting internally.

Source: Talent Culture