Getting Ahead of the Recruiting Curve

Recruiting is tough business. Sure there are those doing it well, but even they complain about it how challenging it can me. Times are changing. The reasons individuals decide to leave or stay with a company are more individual needs based than ever before. Technology moves faster than we can keep up. Social media demands a more transparent experience. Candidates are savvy and come with high expectations.

And all of that can be hard for any recruiter to navigate, much less the recruiter who is also administering benefits and trying to be "strategic" and innovative.

And yet, the demand for talent doesn't go away. Hiring managers still bring requests for purple squirrels riding on pink unicorns that they would have preferred to have hired yesterday. Recruiting is a constant uphill battle, pushing a huge boulder while hoping on one foot.

That's how you feel about it right?

If you do, then the pre-conference workshop at ILSHRM16 is for you. In three hours we are going to talk about how we get ahead of the recruiting curve. How we become more proactive instead of reactive. How we create strategy instead of just saying we want to be strategic. We are going to talk about specific roles you struggle with on a regular basis and see if we can't brainstorm creative ideas together to create a pipeline of candidates for that role. We will be covering ways recruiters and recruiting teams can be more forward thinking about recruiting and stay that way.

Because unless we get ahead of the curve, we will continue to trip over it.

Now let me be clear. This is no lesson in silver bullets. There is not now, nor has there ever been a silver bullet for recruiting that is going to fix all of your troubles. Anyone who tells you otherwise is deceiving you. Strategy takes time. It takes time to dig out from the pile, but unless you get started you will continue to struggle to breath at the bottom of it. This workshop will give you the skills needed to dig out, but the work will have to be done.

The session will be highly interactive. I firmly believe that not one person has all the answers in recruiting. Others in the room may have faced exactly what you are facing and come through it successfully. I want to make sure we have time to share those interactions during our time together. We will be using examples from the audience so bring your toughest job opening and we'll see if we can't come up with a strategy together to overcome it.

I hope to see you there. I promise it will be worth your time.

Conference Insider - What to Expect

Amy R. Dillman
Your ILSHRM Communications Director
and ILSHRM16 attendee

Here we are in the last month of August! Can you believe it? The summer vacations are coming to an end, schools are back in session and Christmas advertising is starting to pop up. Ok, maybe that last one is a stretch, but it will be coming soon enough.

I love Fall. It is my favorite season and this year it just might be the best yet as ILSHRM16 is on the calendar in September! Have you registered? Still thinking of registering? Here are a few insider details for what you can expect.

1. Learning Opportunities. The conference is jam packed with sessions that are broken down into tracks. You can sharpen your skills by staying in a particular track or you can broaden your knowledge base by attending a session in each.  The tracks are.Business Acumen & HR Strategy, Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning, Personal and Leadership Development, Total Rewards (Compensation & Benefits, Employee & Labor Relations and Compliance. More information can be found at track descriptions.

2. Networking. You hear it all the time. This event or that offers networking opportunities, but at ILSHRM16 it can really happen! That said, networking says 'work' and it takes a little work to network. We provide the platform, but it's up to you to say hi, introduce yourself, sit next to someone in a session or at lunch that you don't know. If you don't know where to start, seek out and say hello to an ILSHRM board member. We love to talk and would gladly help you meet other HR professionals.

3. Location, Location, Location. ILSHRM16 is back at Drury Lane in Oakbrook, Illinois. If you haven't been, access is easy, parking is easy, and here are no buses or mile-long hikes from your room. All the sessions are under one roof which makes #1 and #2 of this list easy! Breakfast and lunch are included Monday and Tuesday as well as the Monday night after hours event, but there are plenty of restaurants nearby to catch a bite or a beverage with those new colleagues you met while networking. While networking, did you find other shopaholics? Oakbrook Mall is practically next door - just shop 'til you drop after conference hours.

Got a question? Need some more advice? Hashtag #ILSHRM16 on Twitter or post a comment on our Facebook page.  We hope to see you there!

You can still register at ILSHRM16.

At Least They Gave Us a Little Time

Amy Dillman

Your ILSHRM Communications Director

and attendee of ILSHRM16!

When the Department of Labor released new regulations regarding the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on May 18^th, the HR World felt the shockwaves.  The changes were significant, staring with the new salary threshold of $47,476.  If any of you were like me, we began producing reports, counting the numbers of impacted, exempt employees under the salary threshold and determining effect of budgets, overtime, and considering potential wage increases. We jump into action because before I can even finish my Excel formulas, I have directors at my door, on my email and ringing my phone.

SHRM was ready too. Did you search their site for information, articles and webinars? I did. They were a great source of information! They explained in their May 18^th government affairs update the key elements to the new regulation:

1.    Salary Threshold Changed to $913/week ($47,476 per Year)
This threshold doubles the current salary threshold level. While this level is slightly lower than the threshold in the proposed rule, it still encompasses many employees that are currently classified as exempt. SHRM was disappointed that DOL did not offer a more reasonable increase and set the threshold, as it has in the past, at a level designed to encompass those employees that are clearly not engaged in exempt-type work.

2.    Automatic Salary Threshold Increases Every 3 Years (Not Annually) to Maintain Level at 40th Percentile in Lowest-Wage Census Region
DOL reduced the frequency of the automatic increases in response to concerns raised by SHRM and others. Instead of annual increases, the threshold will be adjusted every 3 years to maintain the level at the 40th percentile of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census region. Automatically updating the salary threshold, however, does not allow the government to take into account changing economic conditions, specific impact on certain industries, or regional differences. It also denies the public the ability to have input on the threshold as required by the regulatory process.

3.    Duties Test is Unchanged
The absence of a duties test change is a significant win for the thousands of SHRM members who expressed concern in this area. DOL did not make changes to the standard duties test.
4.    Effective Date is December 1, 2016.
SHRM advocated for a longer implementation period than the standard 60 days and the final rule provides additional time for employers to prepare. With the rule going into effect on December 1, 2016, HR professionals should review their current workforce immediately to determine which employees are affected, whether to re-classify those employees, and execute a communications strategy. HR should keep in mind the periodic adjustments and set a regular review process.

5.    Highly Compensated Employee (HCE) Exemption Is Now $134,004 Per Year
The final rule retains the methodology in the proposed rule setting the threshold at the 90th percentile of full-time salaried workers nationally.

I, and I hope you, have a firm understanding of the new requirements. Now, the work begins. New training on time sheets, new data management tools to track financial impact for future adjustments, developing an educational pipeline to managers and employees, writing new internal policies and changing payroll records and codes, leading efforts to minimize cultural and morale damage, and more.

At least the DOL gave us a little time - and we can discuss it together at #ILSHRM16 in related sessions!

See you at the conference and when I come up for air on December 2.

Are you prepared for the FLSA changes? Make sure you aren’t missing anything by attending #ILSHRM16. Register today at ILSHRM16