(Video) Not Receiving Enough Quality Applicants? It's Likely Your Employer Brand.

Your company is hiring, which means you’ve likely done the groundwork and communicated the job opening externally. So why aren’t there more A-player candidates knocking on your door?

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A recent LinkedIn survey of 26,000 professionals found that the main reason people don’t apply to a job is because they don’t have enough background about the company or even the position itself. If your company isn’t able to attract suitable candidates, it’s likely that your employer brand is lacking. Effective employment branding is able to attract even those who are not actively looking. Establishing a unique and compelling employer brand is one of the most effective ways to attract and keep top talent in your company.

According to Entrepreneur, out of more than 100 HR professionals and executives surveyed by Brandemix, 80 percent said they believe employer branding is effective. So, before you start your hiring efforts, consider the following steps for strengthening your employer brand:

Make a great first impression with a mobile, quick-apply process
In today’s world, there isn’t much that hasn’t become mobile-friendly for consumers, and applying for a job is no different. Fueled by increasing candidate demand for simple, quick-apply processes that can be completed on the go, mobile-friendly applicant tracking systems are increasingly being used by recruiting firms and talent acquisition teams at companies to transform the job search experience. In fact, according to LinkedIn’s 2015 Global Recruiting Trends Report, 34 percent of respondents said their career sites were mobile-optimized, a 14 percentage-point increase from 2014.

Recognizing the need to attract the best talent with a quick, mobile-apply process, The Trevi Group recently launched a new mobile-friendly, candidate job board on TheTreviGroup.info .

Leverage existing employee advocacy and leadership 
The focus of the employer brand has changed with the times, and the evolution of social media especially has made companies more transparent. As a result, potential candidates are more likely to listen to what a company’s employees have to say than its advertising tactics. Today, attracting talent relies much more on the advocacy and engagement of your employees.

“It’s important to keep in mind that your employees can either be your company’s strongest brand ambassadors or your biggest critics,” says Scott Bass, director of marketing & communications forMRINetwork. “These are the individuals who truly represent your company culture and brand. It’s their voice that potential candidates will trust most.”

Make it a team effort
The face of an organization should be well-rounded and include everyone from the top down. Potential applicants are just as interested in learning more about their future peers and co-workers as they are their managers, directors and even C-level executives. Make it a team effort by providing candidates the opportunity to hear from people at various levels in the organization. Whether it’s in the interview process, through employee testimonials on your website, or social media engagement, job seekers should receive the same message about what it’s like to work at your company.

Similarly, just as the messaging should be uniform across all company departments, the entire team should be living out the brand in the same way. This is accomplished through engaging with the community, demonstrating company values and exhibiting company work ethics.

Showcase company culture
Most potential candidates are looking for more than just a job; they’re looking for a career at a forward-thinking company with exciting opportunities and ideas. This is where you can really get creative with video and social media posts that bring to life your company’s culture (i.e. employee recognition, social events and charitable activities). In addition, try to showcase the day-to-day life of your organization, providing a realistic inside glimpse into the organization.

Consider outside perspectives
Sometimes being too close to your employer brand will prevent you from promoting it clearly to prospective candidates. If you’re looking to attract top, passive candidates, collaborating with an external recruiter could highly benefit your employer brand. With expert insight into the industry, a good recruiter will strategically leverage your brand to attract the best talent that is not necessarily on the market. In addition, skilled recruiters have visibility into what competitors are doing to attract the same caliber of talent.

By following these tips, you can build a captivating and sincere employer brand that actively attracts new talent while retaining your current workforce. “Above all, stay true to your brand in both your words and your actions,” says Bass. “Consistent, positive messaging about the employee experience at your company is key in positioning the organization as an employer of choice.”

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

Wearable devices market expected to reach $612 billion by 2024

The global market for connected health and wellness devices is predicted to reach $612 billion in less than 10 years.

A recently released report by Grand View Research, Inc. states that as the demand for integrated health technology continues, the market will reach new heights by 2024, according to MarketWatch.

The expectation that consumers will continue to move toward healthier livelihoods and adopt wearable healthcare devices is not the only factor driving the growth. A rise in the rate of lifestyle-associated diseases that call for around-the-clock monitoring through connected healthcare devices will also attribute to the expansion over the next eight years, noted the source.

As part of the growing effort to improve quality of care, access to platforms enabling patients to view their own health records and related medical data and communicate with doctors is being increased. In terms of market growth, these advanced products, including adapters and remote sensors, are contributing factors. 

The healthcare industry as a whole is anticipated to become the largest sector in the U.S. in less than three years, reported Becker's Spine Review. In July alone, 43,000 jobs were added, outpacing all other industries.

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

'Silicon Alley' giving Wall Street a run for its money in job creation

While the finance sector has long been depended upon to support job creation and economic growth in New York, so-called "Silicon Alley" is giving Wall Street a run for its money. 

According to recent findings from the New York Federal Reserve, Silicon Alley - the name given to the booming tech industry in New York City - added more jobs in the state than the finance sector, New York Business Journal reported. 

Specifically, jobs in internet publishing, online shopping and scientific research and development are showing significant growth, according to a statement by William Dudley, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

"Growth in these high-paying jobs is picking up much of the slack created by the softness of the securities industry," Dudley said. 

Silicon Alley is also increasingly being seen as a vibrant hub for startups. For three out of four quarters of 2015, New York City had more startup funding requests than any other area in the U.S., noted Forbes. In the final quarter of the year, the city registered 20 percent of all startup funding applications in the country. 

And even the tech industry in the Big Apple is taking finance jobs from Wall Street, thanks to fintech. New York state saw the most fintech funding in the country in the first quarter of 2016, and had deals equal to $201.4 billion, according to New York Business Journal. 

As Silicon Alley grows, state leadership will need to reassess Wall Street. The economy of New York City has traditionally been fueled mostly by the finance sector, Liberty Street Economics explained, and in 2007 was responsible for 12 percent of total employment in the city and 25 percent of wage and salary earnings. 

Dudley stated that there were multiple theories as to why the finance sector in the city is seeing minimal job gains, including unsustainable practices prior to the financial crisis, CNBC reported. 

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

IT spending forecast to near $3 trillion by 2020

A new report from IDC, an IT research firm, forecast that businesses will spend $2.7 trillion on information technology by 2020, according to Fortune. 

In 2016, IT spending is expected to reach $2.4 trillion, the source noted. 

While sectors like consumer products have typically been most responsible for IT spending, the report showed that the manufacturing, financial services and healthcare sectors will have a larger role in the predicted growth. 

Healthcare in particular will show strong IT investment, with IDC finding that it would continue to the fastest growing industry in terms of tech spending, and will have a compound annual growth rate of 5.7 percent, according to Information Week. 

"In the US, the greatest near-term growth is expected among healthcare providers, professional services firms, banks and securities and investment services organizations," said Jessica Goepfert, program director of customer insights and analysis at IDC, in a statement.

Fueling the increased spending is greater investment in mobile, big data and cloud-based technologies, across industries. 

IDC also noted that large companies - those with more than 1,000 employees - will be responsible for nearly half of global IT spend in 2020, the source reported. 

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

Launch date for Apple Car pushed back one more year, report reveals

Though many people have most likely never heard of the Apple Car, the rumored release date for this top-secret project may have been pushed back another year.

A new report from technology site The Information has divulged the news on the car that is still yet to be created, reported Fortune magazine. Believed to be called Project Titan, the Apple Car venture was thought to have an original launch date of 2020.

However, according to the report the team has run into several complications and as a result, will push back the introduction until 2021. Though Apple itself has yet to comment on the project one way or another, the company is said to be working on a self-driving electric vehicle.

According to Digital Trends, the delay is said to be due to a turnover in project lead. Recently, Steve Zadesky, who was at the head of the Apple endeavor, stepped down after more than one and a half decades with the company.

As far as collaboration, the lack of discussion on the subject likely means Apple is hoping to use in-house servers, noted the source.

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

'Big health' on the horizon

Big data is already being used to track consumer trends and support national security - but it is also finding innovative applications in the healthcare industry. 

Analysts are pointing to the potential value of a partnership between the manufacturers of personal fitness tracking devices and health insurance providers. Insurance providers could collect the information gathered by these devices and then use it to provide consumers with personalized health advice, Gadget magazine explained. 

As the use of fitness trackers becomes more widespread, "big health," as the experts are calling it, could be put into practice soon. Currently, Fitbit dominates the U.S. market, selling one third of all activity trackers, according to the source.

And the increasing sophistication of cloud computing is helping to provide the digital architecture needed to support such a partnership. Gadget cited the "wellness tracking platform" launched by Microsoft in 2014 as a model for future systems. 

GPS-manufacturer Garmin is also getting in on the big health game. The company, which sells a line of wearable fitness trackers, recently announced a partnership with biotech startup LifeQ to create a "connected health solution," Ventureburn detailed. The solution is anticipated to involve the provision of personal health data to insurers. 

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

Macy's to enhance the shopping experience through artificial intelligence

Macy's has teamed up with IBM Watson to introduce an artificial intelligence-powered shopping assistant for its retail stores.

The in-store mobile platform designed to enhance the consumer experience, Macy's On Call, will launch in 10 U.S. stores during a trial phase, reported Forbes. IBM Watson has recently teamed up with Satisfi, an intelligent engagement platform and developer partner, which will only further enhance the new platform of the retailer.

Based on the notion that customers are increasingly more likely to turn to their smartphones than actual store associates, the platform allows shoppers to ask questions in natural language to receive relevant answers.

"The combination of Satisfi's location-based, intelligent engagement software, with the cognitive learning capabilities of IBM's Watson, has helped us build a powerful and comprehensive tool to enhance the in-store shopping environment," said Don White, chief revenue officer at Satisfi.

Eventually the chatbot will learn how to give responses on department, brand and product locations within each specific store, reported The Washington Post. The new feature will be an extension of customer habits on the Macy's existing store ap. Shoppers will now be able to get more detail on products and check prices themselves.

The major clothing store is not the first retailer to incorporate technology and is joining the trend in an effort to improve the shopping experience.

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

Video: Isn't it Time to Declutter Your Hiring Process?

The life-altering magic of decluttering and refocusing have been frequent discussion points lately, with experts weighing in on how to create the best possible environments for living and working. Many companies could also benefit from applying the principles of decluttering to their hiring processes. If your company hasn’t examined the recruitment-to-onboarding process in a while, it may be time to revisit these procedures to eliminate steps that may be slowing the process.

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Streamlining the hiring process is important to attracting and bringing in new talent, especially in the current candidate-driven market among the executive and professional ranks. “Potential candidates who are unimpressed by the way they’re being evaluated will almost certainly go elsewhere, and word spreads quickly about long and confusing recruitment procedures,” says Laura Burgess, interim director of learning and talent development for MRINetwork. “Condensing the hiring process eases stress on hiring managers, reduces the cost of hiring and ensures that top-tier candidates are coming through the talent pipeline with ease.”

Burgess provides the following tips for shortening the hiring process:

Assess your current process
The first step in determining if there are kinks in the recruitment process is to conduct an internal audit. Take a look at the process in place and document it all the way through to address what is working and what isn’t. Seeing how things are flowing will provide perspective and let you know where improvements can be made. Additionally consider the process from the candidate’s perspective. What feedback have they given regarding the interview process, or why they turned down your job offer?

Refine your job descriptions
An effective job description should do the initial screening for you. It shouldn’t just tell candidates what is expected of them; it should display the company culture, showcase the brand and ultimately let candidates know why this is - or isn’t - the job for them. This demands understanding the core requirements of the position. Every requirement you put in your job description has the potential to negatively impact or limit the number of people who might apply for the position, and that can hurt you in a market where the best candidates know they have multiple opportunities.

Use mobile-friendly, quick-apply platforms
Today’s candidates live by modern technology and look to companies offering a mobile, quick-apply process, rather than those that require filling out endless online forms. Many companies are finding that a mobile-friendly process leads to an increase in passive applicants (high performing employed candidates) overall, which is especially helpful when it comes to filling positions in sectors where talent is often in short supply. If you have not implemented new technologies into your hiring process, that make it easy for candidates to apply for jobs instantly, you are in danger of losing out to the competition.

Establish a reasonable timeline
Start with the “drop dead” date that a new hire needs to be on board and work backwards. Estimate that interviews will take at least two weeks, then assume that two more weeks will pass between the time an offer is extended and when a candidate starts, enabling you to begin backfilling dates on a calendar. If the job is open today, figure out now when you need to interview candidates for the first round. Take into account flight and hotel scheduling for on-site interviews, background checks, testing, references and other paperwork that must be completed.

Involve decision makers early
Have hiring managers sign off on the job description and commit to making room in their calendars to schedule interviews. Delaying the process because of scheduling difficulties causes candidates to lose interest. Ideally, the first interview should occur no longer than a week out from first contact. If multiple interviewers are involved, the candidate should know with whom they will be interviewing, and how long it will take.

Make interviewing pay off
Ensure that your interviewing team is fully trained on the interview process and aware of their role, so that ideally a decision can be made after one full-cycle interview with the candidate, possibly two if there are a couple of candidates who stand out. Assign topics or areas that each interviewer will be discussing with the candidate. When interviewers head into the interview without a guideline, they will most likely ask similar questions and come out of the meeting with a limited profile of the candidate. Having a plan allows the interviewers to collaborate and share detailed information about each targeted area.

Make the most of your recruiter
A quality recruiter can help you through the process, saving time on screening applicants and expediting communication. Count on your recruiter to communicate all decisions to candidates and to follow up with them after each stage of the hiring process, up until the final decision has been made. The recruiter can also provide feedback to candidates on why they were not selected, approaching the conversation in a way that keeps the door open for an ongoing relationship.

“A long, drawn-out process turns the best candidates away from your company and costs you both time and money,” concludes Burgess. “By streamlining your recruiting process and shortening time-to-hire, you’ll be able to attract and retain top talent for your organization.”

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com 

The 'IT industry of the future': cybersecurity

As companies gain the ability to collect and store ever-growing databases of sensitive client data, cybersecurity experts are in high demand. 

So much so in fact, that demand for cybersecurity jobs is expected to reach 6 million positionsworldwide by 2019, according to Michael Brown, the CEO at Symantec, who shared his forecast with CSO Online. Furthermore, U.S. News and World Report found that infosecurity jobs are expected to have a 36.5 percent growth rate through 2022. 

To attract more professionals in the "IT industry of the future," as Venture Beat put it, many companies are introducing targeted cybersecurity recruitment campaigns and in-house training programs. The source cited Cisco, which dedicated $10 million to a robust training program for qualified candidates. 

Investing in cybersecurity career development seems to pay off, like in San Diego, where local leadership have spent two years cultivating the city as a hot spot for cutting-edge tech. The city has seen a 14.7 percent increase in cyberjobs since 2014, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. 

Cities near military bases and offices have an especially high demand for cybersecurity professionals. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego has seen its cybersecurity workforce grow from 6,600 in 2014 to 7,620 this year, according to the source. 

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com

(Video) The Simple Yet Powerful Retention Tactic that Won't Cost Your Company a Dime

In today’s work culture where paternity leave, free snacks and on-site daycare have become more common, formulating the right package of perks and benefits for your employees can be difficult. Glassdoor research indicates 57 percent of people place benefits and office perks at the top of their list when considering a new role. However, research has also shown that employee satisfaction within the workplace is more strongly correlated to elements such as senior leadership, company culture and values and opportunities for growth. It is these intangible factors that can have a significant impact on employee retention.

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In fact, when it comes down to it, there is one overarching company perk that all employees crave that costs nothing: praise. It’s as simple as taking the time to commend your employees where that praise and credit is due.

“In this fast-paced business environment we work in, leaders are often focused on the financial side of the business and forget the importance of their everyday interactions with their employees,” says Anne Hayden, vice president of human resources for MRINetwork. “It’s really the small things like a simple acknowledgement or word of thanks that can make a world of difference. Without those words, no amount of incentives or bonuses will provide employees with the real and meaningful recognition they’re looking for.”

The goal is not to encourage flattery or give false praise, but instead to find the right opportunities to give authentic and honest recognition. Everyone deserves praise for their individual talents and hard work. It’s your job as a manager to see that potential and bring out the best in your employees.

Here are three tips for generating a positive praise culture in your workplace:

Be authentic

Don’t praise just to praise - your employees will see right through a false compliment and they’ll be left wondering what you’re hoping to get out of them. Praise should be organic, the natural reaction to a job well done. Take the time to sit down and really explain what it is they did so well.

Use specific examples of what they’ve done and how it benefited the company as a whole. Encouraging them to keep up the hard work exemplifies how their individual contribution made a positive impact, which is always nice to hear.

Put yourself in their shoes

Consider the last time you were commended for your long hours, extensive research or hard work. Did you feel appreciated? Your employees are seeking the same kind of feedback. Each individual contributes something of great importance to your company, and deserves to be recognized for that.

Displaying true personal interest in your employees shows that you are invested in not only the work they generate, but them as a person as well. When employees feel genuinely appreciated, it cultivates stronger dedication to any given client, project, report and the company as a whole.

See the potential in everyone

Finding areas to praise may be difficult in some situations. It’s important to remember that everyone brings something to the table and each has his or her own talents. Perhaps they consistently boost team morale, or maybe they’ve been dedicated to the company for years. Whatever it may be, it’s your job to support them, encourage them and praise them.

“While recognition may seem like such a simple and obvious thing, its impact is frequently overlooked, especially when a company does not have the ability to provide extraordinary perks or benefits,” says Hayden. “By spending a few moments to sincerely commend your employees, you, your team and your company as a whole will reap the benefits. Or as many like to say, it pays to praise.”

The Trevi Group
www.TheTreviGroup.com