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<ul><li>Job postings that mention AI have witnessed a 2.1X rise in applications compared to those without AI references. </li><li>98% of <keyword id="179686" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-professionals" source="Orion">Indian professionals</keyword> are enthusiastic about incorporating AI into their work. </li><li>AI is seen as a valuable tool for career guidance and as a means to tackle complex workplace challenges by majority. </li></ul>The job landscape is on the cusp of radical transformation, with at least 65% change in skills required for jobs by 2030, primarily propelled by the rapid advancements in <keyword id="107950" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence" source="Orion">artificial intelligence</keyword> (AI), as revealed by a report by professional network LinkedIn . In the past two years, job advertisements in India that reference AI or Generative AI have more than doubled (increased 2.5 times). Additionally, job listings mentioning AI or Gen AI have experienced a 2.1 times increase in the number of applications compared to those without such mentions. LinkedIn's research also reveals that an impressive 98% of Indian professionals are enthusiastic about incorporating AI into their work. Many are eager to use AI for seeking career guidance (75%) and handling challenging work situations (78%). In response to these imminent shifts, business leaders are turning to their HR and recruitment teams to guide the way. 92% of talent professionals in India acknowledge that their roles have assumed a more strategic dimension, particularly within the realm of talent acquisition. Here, AI is poised to play a pivotal role by alleviating administrative burdens, allowing HR teams to direct their energies toward the most strategic aspects of their roles. Says Ruchee Anand, senior director, talent and learning solution, LinkedIn India, “AI is bringing in a new era of work, reshaping everything from our workplaces and teams to the very nature of job-seeking and hiring. HR professionals are at the helm of this transformation, with a clear mandate: skills will be the cornerstone of an AI-powered work environment. With AI as a tool, HR professionals can focus on simplifying routine tasks, diving deeper into valuable, people-centric responsibilities, and ensuring their businesses are equipped with the right talent to prosper.” Globally, 80% of HR professionals believe that AI will be a valuable asset over the next five years. They anticipate that AI will empower them to focus on the more strategic and human-centered dimensions of their positions. This includes fostering relationships with candidates and colleagues and engaging in creative and strategic initiatives (39%).

Job skills to change majorly by 2030 as AI inputs speed up

<ul><li>Among functional skill suites with the highest intent-to-hire in Q1FY2024, development roles (28%) held the highest share. </li><li>The demand for SAP(16%) expertise has consistently remained high. </li><li>When it comes to demand for technical skills across various sectors, the IT sector (15%) has emerged as the frontrunner with the highest share. </li></ul><keyword id="1458566" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-skills" source="Orion">Digital skills</keyword> like <keyword id="15777223" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="generative-ai" source="Orion">generative AI</keyword> and <keyword id="771372" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-analytics" source="Orion">data analytics</keyword> are in high demand and this will only rise signalling exciting prospects for India’s skilled workforce, according to ‘The Skills Report’ by Quess Corp, a business solutions provider. The report indicates that there has been a noticeable increase in the requirement for professionals possessing technical skills such as development, systems, applications, and products (SAP), <keyword id="6356669" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="automotive" source="Orion">automotive</keyword> design, testing, and infrastructure support in the first quarter of FY24. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="In-demand functional suites" comment="subhead" text="In-demand functional suites">In-demand functional suites</cmsannotation> It is seen that 78% of aggregate demand emerges from only five tech skill suites. Among functional skill suites with the highest intent-to-hire in Q1FY2024 development roles (28%) held the highest share. There was a noted demand for developers skilled in over 65 technical proficiencies and platforms. Interestingly, full stack skills exhibited consistent and upwardly trending demand within the <keyword id="6640407" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="consulting" source="Orion">consulting</keyword>, automotive, <keyword id="6354778" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="banking" source="Orion">banking</keyword>, and telecom sectors. The need for SAP knowledge, accounting for 16% of expertise, has consistently stayed strong, covering both developmental and implementation facets. According to Quess, there was a notable rise in demand for these skills, especially within the consulting and global capabilities centre (GCC) client domains. Automotive design, constituting 14% of the sought-after expertise, stands as another significant skill in high demand. The global and Indian automotive sectors are currently witnessing a notable upswing in the necessity for skilled professionals. This surge can be attributed to the escalating integration of digital technologies into the industry and the growing need for individuals with adeptness in technological domains. Furthermore, there is a distinct rise in the requirement for testing skills (12%), applicable to both manual and automated domains. Particularly striking is the substantial demand for proficiencies in tools such as Selenium, TOSCA, Workday, and ServiceNow. Across various industries, the need for skills related to IT infrastructure support (8%) remains consistent, encompassing both Level 1 and Level 2 support functions. This requirement spans across a wide spectrum of more than 30 specific areas. In tandem with these functional skill sets, there is a call for competencies in domains such as data science, DevOps, cloud computing, enterprise resource planning (ERP), cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), user interface and user experience (UI/UX) design, and other related fields. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The need for diverse recruitment frameworks" comment="subhead" text="The need for diverse recruitment frameworks">The need for diverse recruitment frameworks</cmsannotation> According to the report, to address the disparity between talent demand and supply, the industry must explore methods to enhance the availability of a skilled workforce using diverse hiring strategies. Utilising Center of Excellence programs, which maintain a pool of pre-assessed and skilled candidates, can expedite recruitment processes for conventional technology skills. For areas with insufficiently available technological expertise, companies can implement hire-train-deploy initiatives to empower candidates to enhance their skills and stay up-to-date with modern technologies. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Industry wise tech skills demand" comment="subhead" text="Industry wise tech skills demand">Industry wise tech skills demand</cmsannotation> When analysing the distribution of demand for technical skills across various sectors, the Information Technology (IT) sector (15%) has emerged as the frontrunner with the highest share, closely followed by the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector (15%), as well as the digital engineering sector (13%). The telecom and healthcare industries have also experienced positive shifts in sentiment. As the global focus shifts towards renewable energy sources, the oil and gas sector is under pressure to revamp its business strategies and decision-making approaches in order to stay competitive. In response to this challenge, companies are embracing digital solutions to uncover new avenues for revenue generation, enhance production efficiency, and reduce operational costs. Cutting-edge technologies like data analytics, artificial intelligence, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) are empowering these organisations to optimise intricate processes and adapt more adeptly to market volatility, unexpected disruptions, and other challenges. Says Vijay Sivaram, CEO, Quess IT Staffing, “Amid macroeconomic headwinds affecting the US and Europe, the IT services sector faces a downward hiring trend of 25-30%. However, this situation has opened up new opportunities, with GCCs ramping up talent acquisition and projecting an estimated employee strength of 1.4 million, hiring is likely to increase by 10%.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Tech hiring concentrated in IT hubs" text="Tech hiring concentrated in IT hubs">Tech hiring concentrated in IT hubs</cmsannotation> Hiring efforts across India were primarily concentrated in the IT hubs located in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Haryana. The prevalence of remote work policies and the enhancement of data services infrastructure have facilitated an increase in hiring activity in Tier and Tier3 cities. This trend is particularly noticeable within e-commerce and financial services companies. For example, Quess has successfully placed employees in cities such as Jaipur, Coimbatore, Indore, Kochi, Gulmarg, Siliguri, and several others.

Demand for five digital skills like Gen-AI and data analytics to pick steam exponentially

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Tiffany Haley is the head of global talent acquisition at Vanguard.</li><li>She looks for candidates who are mission oriented, adaptable, and always wanting to learn.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tiffany Haley, head of global talent acquisition at <a href="https://investor.vanguard.com/corporate-portal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vanguard</a> from Malvern, Pennsylvania about how to get a job at Vanguard. It's been edited for length and clarity.In my role leading Vanguard's global talent acquisition, I'm always blown away by the number of applications we receive.My team and I keep an "always on" talent mindset, and we receive strong interest from a broad and deep pool of talented candidates for the range of roles we're hiring for at any given time. We're committed to hiring diverse, high-performing, mission-driven talent at all stages of their careers. For example, we actively recruit candidates just starting out in their careers from colleges and universities across the country for our corporate internship program. We also hold what we call EXPLORE Days, which provide an opportunity to experience our unique culture and network with leaders across our businesses to gain an understanding of what sets us apart as a long-term career destination.For those looking to re-enter the workforce, we've built a return-to-work program or "returnship" which enables candidates who may have taken a career break the opportunity to refresh and reactivate their skills. When screening for a role, we look for a range of different abilities and skills that are applicable to the respective opportunity. But these are the three things we try to identify in any candidate for any role at Vanguard: <h2>1. Are you mission-oriented?</h2>The first thing we look for is the most important and sets the tone for the rest of the process: Is this person mission-oriented and do their values align with ours? We want to understand who candidates are as people — what energizes and motivates them. Having an authentic conversation with a candidate creates a connection that goes deeper than "can this person perform the tasks successfully." When a candidate lights up talking about a topic, you've entered new territory for a conversation that can tell you so much more than bullets on a resume. I recently spoke with a candidate interested in a role in our advice business. Their experience fit the bill for the role's requirements, but what sold me was this person's passion for giving back to their community. A spirit of caring is foundational to Vanguard's success in serving our clients and our communities, and I knew this individual would appreciate seeing their passion come to life in their role and through other community-based initiatives they could become involved with at our firm.<h2>2. Can you pivot?</h2>We also ask candidates to describe their ability to adapt. Our industry is ever-changing, and so are the needs and aspirations of our clients.By articulating a time when you had to change course, experiment with a new approach, or identify a creative solution to a problem, you're not only showcasing your skillset. You're also showing me and our team of recruiters that you have the prowess to be adaptable — a fundamental capability in this industry and when serving clients. <h2>3. Do you want to learn and keep learning?</h2>Lastly, we look for individuals who express a desire to continually learn and expand their skill sets. We don't expect candidates to have all the answers or necessarily be a master at their craft when joining Vanguard. We look for an eagerness to stand behind a noble mission, and a commitment to growing their career by seizing development opportunities. For example, we often interview candidates for our information technology division who might not be fully versed in all of the technologies Vanguard uses to power our business. But when I hear a candidate express their enthusiasm for broadening their skillset by learning a new application or coding language, my ears perk up.When we find this type of engaged talent, we know it's on us to help provide avenues and tools that enable their learning, so they can ultimately continue to add value to our clients. The key is for candidates to be able to successfully demonstrate these things in their application and interview to stand out, showcase their value on a resume, and make a lasting impression.<h2>If you don't have the skills, focus on your experiences</h2>I recommend candidates focus on sharing impactful experiences that demonstrate their ability to be successful in the role they're applying for.A candidate might not have all the skills required for a particular role, but if they're able to provide stories and examples of how they helped drive a positive outcome, achieve a goal, or cultivate a mission, that can be especially memorable. Our team of recruiters primarily focus on behavioral-based questions so we're able to get a sense of how candidates respond and react to situations they've experienced, how they take action, their working styles, and if they have skills to support the role they're applying for. I'm a big believer that you don't need to have a stacked resume to share something relevant in your interview. You can draw on experiences and demonstrate value from anything — a volunteering initiative or nonprofit work, classwork, a previous job, and more. The most important question I want candidates to reflect on is arguably simple but powerful and telling: What motivated you to apply for this role?We want to understand your interests and what you're looking for in your next role. And we're interested in hearing you articulate what drew you to Vanguard, what impact you'd like to make, and how you're hoping to advance your career here. <h2>My favorite interview question flips a standard one on its head</h2>Instead of asking what candidates want to gain from the role and from working here, I ask them what they want to give. I've seen candidates pause or hesitate slightly since it's a slight deviation from what they were expecting, but it generates robust conversation around how they plan to invest in Vanguard and their career here, and how we invest in their growth along the way. Their answer goes beyond words, too. A candidate's tone, inflection, and body language can convey so much. Even the most introverted and reserved candidates can light up when you give them the chance to story-tell around how they can contribute. I recall one candidate who responded to my question by sharing that the average person spends about 37.5 hours working each week. And, if they were going to give that time — one of life's most prized gifts — to their employer, they wanted to do so being challenged with new things to learn each day. That really stuck with me!If you're a hiring executive who wants to share interview tips, email Jenna Gyimesi at <a href="mailto:jgyimesi@insider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jgyimesi@insider.com</a>.

I'm the head of talent acquisition at Vanguard. Here are the 3 things I look for in candidates and my favorite interview question to ask.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>PwC's Ryan says while the headlines can be scary, many CEOs he talks to say business is good.</li><li>The barrage of hurdles leaders face means 'There's never been a more challenging time to be a CEO.'</li></ul>Tim Ryan, the US chair of the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, believes the landscape for US companies isn't as treacherous as it might appear from day-to-day headlines that ring of war, unchecked inflation, and slumping markets.Even if surging prices and higher interest rates end up pushing the <keyword id="11893570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="economy" source="Orion">economy</keyword> into a slower gear, Ryan told Insider he expected strong corporate <keyword id="13604749" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="dealmaking" source="Orion">dealmaking</keyword> to continue and that a "war for talent" could stretch on for a decade.The CEOs Ryan talks to are doing as much worrying as ever. Yet for many, business remains robust. "Demand is up. Revenue growth is good. When you look at the <keyword id="11893018" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="innovation" source="Orion">innovation</keyword> capabilities that people have, they feel pretty good," Ryan said. "When you talk to a CEO, he or she generally would say, 'My business is doing well.'" There are clear exceptions, of course. Challenges at big names like Facebook's parent company, Meta, and Netflix have investors worried that there are bigger economic potholes ahead. After peaking in November, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has slumped more than 26%, while the S&amp;P 500 index is off about 16% from its high at the start of the year.Ryan, 56, said the CEOs he talked to didn't expect the US economy to crater, in part because spending by these companies' customers remains strong. He said companies were remaking their businesses to cultivate new sources of revenue and cutting costs where they could. Ryan also expects <keyword id="12601742" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mergers-and-acquisitions" source="Orion">mergers and acquisitions</keyword> to continue despite the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes, which are designed to slow inflation and keep the economy from overheating. "M&amp;A is really strong, even though rates have gone up a little bit. We anticipate M&amp;A will continue to be very strong," he said.<h2>Corporate earnings</h2>Ryan, who joined PwC at 22, predicted 2022 would prove a solid year for corporate earnings by historical standards, though not compared with the windfalls from 2021."What's on the minds of many CEOs is they feel like '22 will be a good year, but will it be enough for their investors?" he said. "I think it'll be younger companies reporting good numbers, but the comparables are going to be tough."<h2><keyword id="11893566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="leadership" source="Orion">Leadership</keyword> in the most challenging time</h2>The number of fastballs coming at chief executives — from supply-chain worries to increased calls in some quarters for unionization of workforces — make the job increasingly difficult, Ryan said. Heads of companies, he said, are facing scrutiny on corporate-tax rates, data privacy and security, whether their algorithms are fair and ethical, workplace safety, and environmental, social, and governance concerns."There's never been a more challenging time to be a CEO," Ryan said.The companies that succeed amid all this, he said, will be the ones where the CEO can drive change. "Almost every company needs to change, and the bigger the company, the harder it is to change." Ryan pointed to bigger companies' larger workforces, sprawling legacy systems, and global footprints. Each can present additional hurdles for making swift changes.Another big challenge is simply understanding what is working, what isn't, and what the mood is among employees, customers, and suppliers. "Proximity to what is actually happening on the ground is critical," Ryan said. "When I look at the most successful companies, the CEO and the boards have a really good pulse on what's actually happening."The best corporate boards focus on <keyword id="11897160" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hiring" source="Orion">hiring</keyword> and firing the CEO and avoid getting mired in issues that can seem important but are ultimately distractions, Ryan said. A danger for a board that takes on too much is that when a variety of issues seem to be under control, it's easy to overlook cracks that might be forming."You can lull yourself into a false sense of security that every single thing we're looking at is green, but nine greens or 19 greens don't add up to an overall green if you're not focused on the right things," he said.<h2>The war for talent</h2>Ryan said strong business formations, an aging workforce, and pandemic-inspired retirements for some workers meant it's likely companies would continue to compete with each other to bring on enough people for years, perhaps as long as a decade. "Even if the economy slows a bit," he said, "I think the war for talent continues to stay strong."It's a battle in which PwC has been engaging as it seeks to add to its US workforce of about 55,000. Last year, the company <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/pwc-to-spend-12-billion-on-hiring-expanding-expertise-in-ai-cybersecurity-11623758400">said</a> it would boost its global workforce by more than one-third by 2026 as it expanded into areas like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Ryan said the company had been studying how to better serve its workers before the pandemic and that some of the ideas — considerations like a four-day workweek — that seemed bold at the time now felt less so. The pandemic forced a worldwide experiment in new ways to work; many of these innovations are likely to endure. "Ultimately, what we concluded is that the debate around physical versus virtual was the wrong discussion and the wrong debate for us," Ryan said. "Talent wants choice." PwC surveyed its client-service staff and found more than three-quarters wanted a mix of in-office and remote work; 22% opted to be fully remote.The No. 2 consultancy behind Deloitte in terms of revenue is giving workers greater autonomy to determine the types of assignments they take on, how much they work, and what kind of training they pursue to develop their skills. This flexibility for workers means companies like PwC will need to be more creative in how they draw up their labor pools. Ryan said that rather than requiring 55,000 people in the US, the firm might need 70,000 if some workers wanted to work 20 or 30 hours a week. Ultimately, Ryan said, successful businesses will be ones that treat their employees more like customers. "There isn't a business in their right mind that will tell the consumer what they want. The consumer says what they want," he said. <h2>What's next</h2>The pandemic, inflation, and other challenges that seemed to emerge overnight have pushed many corporate leaders to think more about how to be ready for the unexpected. "The name of the game is scenario planning," Ryan said. That translates to things like reducing risks associated with supply chains or making sure operations aren't concentrated in one location. "The corporate world is doing a really good job of getting used to scenario planning. And then, obviously, being agile with what you know what you can't plan for," he added.Ryan said he expected to see businesses change at a faster pace, as developments like Web3, which would remake the internet using blockchain technology, could once again reshape how businesses operate."I see more automation, more business-model transformation, than we've ever seen before. It's hard for us to find a client who is not focused on some type of transformation," he said. "I know this is cliché, but the pace of change has never been faster."Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.

PwC Chair says the 'war for talent' could last another decade. Why he's never seen a more challenging time for CEOs.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>With record-high job openings and employers struggling to hire, some workers still can't find jobs.</li><li>However, workers at all levels are "more valuable than ever before," said <keyword id="12411692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="recruiter" source="Orion">Recruiter</keyword>.com's CEO.</li></ul>The US is facing an "<a href="https://www.moodysanalytics.com/-/media/article/2021/weekly-market-outlook-no-repeal-for-law-of-demand.pdf">Alice-in-Wonderland job market</a>," in the words of Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi.Job openings have never been higher, but unemployment is still highly elevated, and millions of discouraged workers have given up on looking for a job and retreated to the sidelines.Meanwhile, those with jobs are in a version of musical chairs that is complicating recruiters' efforts to hire for new positions because they're increasingly busy trying to find replacements for employees who left.Three months ago, recruiters in <a href="http://Recruiter.com">Recruiter.com</a>'s monthly survey reported that 60% of the roles that they were working on were new and 40% of them were "backfill." As of last month, that ratio was 50/50.In addition, the number of respondents working on filling positions in the $40,000 to $80,000 salary range increased sharply. Employers typically use recruiters for roles that pay more than $80,000, so using recruiters for roles below that indicates that employers are struggling to find people, <a href="http://Recruiter.com">Recruiter.com</a> CEO Evan Sohn told Insider.Sohn said workers should also realize that they now have the most leverage in a generation, and they should use that to their advantage."Everyone ... from the CEO, to the blockchain developer, to the person willing to walk into a factory is more valuable than ever before," he said.Because of this labor market turmoil, businesses are casting wider nets than ever to get talent into their recruiting pipelines, but Sohn says many are probably not thinking big enough. Most will likely have to double or triple their usual metrics at the front-end to ensure they get enough people who make it through to the back-end of the talent-acquisition process, he said.But without adequate staffing to move candidates along, businesses risk worsening the bottlenecks that have long frustrated job seekers. Whereas before the pandemic, the potential downsides of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/workers-say-employers-managers-guilty-of-ghosting-job-applicants-employees-2021-9">companies ghosting applicants</a> was relatively minor, the issue has become <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ghosting-job-interview-candidate-campaign-tribepad-2021-9">a real liability for employers</a> now that workers have more options than ever about where to go."What companies need to do is to recognize that this is the new normal, we're in a new environment," Sohn said.And while higher compensation remains an important factor, less than a third of candidates polled by <a href="http://Recruiter.com">Recruiter.com</a> said it was the "most important" consideration, which leaves more than two thirds who prioritize less tangible offerings like work-life balance, remote work, and employee experience.Companies that understand this are already <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/in-war-over-work-from-home-remote-wfh-is-winning">gaining an edge</a> on those holding out for the return of a bygone era.Now is the time for job seekers to go where hiring demand is strongest, even if it's outside their comfort zone, Sohn said."Go get experience doing something that's maybe tangential to what you're looking to do," he said. "Go where the jobs are."Additionally, the pandemic has only accelerated a longer-term trend of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-great-resignation-reshuffle-gen-z-millennials-quitting-switching-careers-2021-10">job-switching among workers</a>, and that means they have more opportunities to learn new skills at one job to make them more competitive for the next one."The thing that you and I were told not to do 30 years ago - job hop - that's becoming normal," he said.

Workers have the most leverage they've had in a generation, and a recruiting expert says they should use it to their advantage

<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/secrets-of-success"></a><div type="image" title="Anna Binder, Head of People" height="1869" width="2492" msid="82107992" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Anna Binder has been the head of people at <keyword id="190609" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="asana">Asana</keyword> since May 2016.</li><li>Last year she guided the company through the transition as "chief corona officer."</li><li>Her tips for navigating a challenge include establishing guiding principles and relying on a core team.</li></ul>Anna Binder's job as head of people at <a href="https://asana.com/">Asana</a>, a web and mobile app designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work, is to connect all of Asana's programs to its mission and business objectives, while making sure they're in line with the company's values. When she started in 2016, the company had about 150 employees, and she was focused on scaling it up as the sole member of the <keyword id="67723" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="HR">HR</keyword> team, outside of recruiting. After four years of focusing on talent acquisition, employee engagement, talent management, and diversity and inclusion, she attended a company event in February 2020 to kick off the year and planned to celebrate her work anniversary by going to a Lady Gaga concert. But the unique challenges of 2020 changed everything. Binder had to pivot, and she said she began to spend 60% to 100% of her time making sure her team was supported through the transition. "It's been mission critical that we're truly intentional about creating space for employees to explore, connect, and learn, including events and activities that allow employees to connect in psychologically safe spaces as we all continue navigating the challenges of the world around us," she said.Here's how she did it.<h2>Set your guiding principles</h2>In mid-February, Binder said she put on her "chief corona officer" hat and helped establish three principles to keep front of mind: prioritize the wellbeing and trust of Asana's employees, communicate readily and calmly, and mitigate the impact on the business' productivity in a reasonably safe way. "We recognized early on that this situation was changing so much that the decisions we were making would need to be addressed sometimes multiple times in a day," Binder told Insider. The company's guiding principles served as a backdrop for these decisions."We had a 30-day period in the middle of all this where I sent some form of communication every single day. Sometimes those comms were very meaty and very informative and some of them were like, you know what? I don't have anything today, but I'm here. I'm still here with you," Binder said.<h2>Put together a core team and meet regularly</h2>Binder organized a small team that covered all the functional areas, including employee communications, the CEO, facilities, and legal. These key players had daily standup meetings - which are now biweekly - that allowed them to digest new information and have multiple people collect information from employees. This way, decisions could be made in real time. The team's rhythm included a recap of the day at 5 p.m. At the end of each meeting, somebody was assigned to create a two-minute video about the decisions that were made so that the people who couldn't be at the meeting could "get the flavor and the specifics," she said. Afterwards, Binder would send a communication to the whole company at around 7 p.m. <h2>Lean on others in the industry </h2>Binder said something else she did that was extremely helpful was set up a group of HR leaders from seven different companies that are very similar to Asana in terms of stage, size, and thinking. "We sort of self-organized and we had phone calls three times a week in the morning to share what decisions we were making to share our communications, to share our information validation. And that allowed us to not be alone," Binder said. <h2>Maintain the integrity of your <keyword id="6357342" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hiring">hiring</keyword> process </h2>Since going remote in March 2020, Asana has hired and onboarded over 500 new employees. Binder said Asana "really cares about the candidate experience," so it kept this as a priority, even when hiring over video. "We prep them on the products and on the culture, and they get a lot of information about who's going to be interviewing them. We're transparent about what the criteria are," Binder said. "Nothing should be a surprise. The whole concept of an interview shouldn't be 'Gotcha.' Right? It should be a get-to-know-you exercise. And we really leaned into that in this COVID-19 world." Applicants were able to have a video call with a recruiting coordinator before their interview to ask any questions and set them up for success. "Especially at the beginning, it was nerve wracking. People hadn't interviewed remotely before, and so we just wanted to make sure people felt comfortable," Binder said.Asana continued to look for candidates who aligned with its values, were a cultural fit, could work quickly, and had a track record of high achievement.<h2>Phase back in slowly and allow employee flexibility</h2>Before last year, very few Asana employees were working remotely. Binder said the phasing back into the office will be like a dimmer, not a light switch. Two of the biggest offices are in New York and Dublin, but Asana has an engineering team in Reykjavík that returned to the office recently. Binder hopes to learn from their experience as the other offices plan their reopening. "I spoke to the head of that office and I said, 'What are you hearing? What are you seeing? What are people's confidence levels? Are you feeling good about going back?' And we talked to the things that they were seeing, we talked through some of the concerns and how to mitigate them," Binder said.Safety is an important part of returning to the office, but so is each employee's personal circumstances. Binder plans to ask each employee what they want to do, what makes the most sense for their lifestyle, and how Asana can accommodate their needs. "Somebody who might be a caretaker to two small children has a different experience than somebody who has a partner who's immunocompromised. Our guiding principles lead us to frameworks that allow for personal flexibility," Binder said.<h2>Focus on what you've gained, not lost </h2>Even with the negativity of the past year, Binder likes to remember the positives. Her employees have learned flexibility, and these skills will carry back into the office."Especially for those who are earlier in their <keyword id="6354910" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="careers">careers</keyword>, you're gonna learn agility and resilience in a way that I can't manufacture," Binder said. "This is going to make them such stronger individuals personally and professionally. And that's it. This is huge."

Asana has hired over 500 employees in the last year. Its head of people reflects on the steps she took to guide the company through 2020.

It’s a whole new world of business today. <keyword id="860946" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="digital-transformation">Digital transformation</keyword> and automation have disrupted the scene so much that enterprises are constantly grappling with the challenge of adopting <keyword id="649252" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="new-technologies">new technologies</keyword> that can help them accelerate their business processes and bring in higher ROI. 
 
When I started Simplilearn, I realized that nothing is more important than the team. If you have the right set of people, no distance is too far. And that’s something I believe is still true – not just for start-ups but for enterprises as well. It is important to have great people and updated skill sets if a company must sustain and achieve its goals in today’s fast-evolving digital space. In many of my conversations with leadership teams at large enterprises, I’ve noticed that hiring is the first thought when they think of acquiring new technology skills for their teams. And that’s fair enough! But a study by the Society for Human Resources Management suggests that companies spend almost 6 – 9 months of an employee’s salary trying to hire skills from outside the company. And it does not stop there. There are intangible costs such as onboarding, time spent on hiring, cultural impact on fellow employees that add to your overall hiring costs. 
 
<keyword id="6360697" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="training">Training</keyword> and continuous learning - a strategy for <keyword id="4400872" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="skills-acquisition">skills acquisition</keyword> 
 
Many enterprises are looking at this problem differently. Rather than hiring, the focus is now on developing their existing workforce. With ongoing learning programs, companies help their staff acquire new skills and technology know-how. Interestingly, the cost of training and certifying employees is much lesser and predictable when compared to hiring. 
 
● Boost retention: SHRM 2016 report on job satisfaction suggests that Millennials placed more importance (95%) on job-specific training, career development opportunities, and career advancement as compared to older generations. But employee training is not just a perk for retention. A study by the <keyword id="68179" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hospitality-industry">Hospitality Industry</keyword> Education Advisory Committee (HIEAC) also suggests that almost 40% employees who receive poor training leave their positions within the first year. 
 
● More productive: In knowledge-based industries, providing employees with intensive internal training results in higher productivity. And this is not restricted to technology skills. Supplementing technical skills with business skills training enables employees to get a deeper understanding of the industry and to align their efforts with the company’s business goals. 
 
Is automation the answer? 
Automation has been gaining a lot of momentum in recent years and one is left wondering if this could mean a cut in jobs. Are we at the beginning of an era where machines are finally going to take over humans? I believe not. This is very similar to the paranoia during Industrial Revolution when machines were first used on a large scale and everyone believed that human jobs would be taken away by machines. They did, in a positive sense. They brought down hard labor jobs. 
 
While automation is going to simplify a lot of things, improve many business processes, and overall contribute to an organization’s effectiveness, human intervention cannot be discounted from the business scene. With automation easing out a lot of processes and inter-function interactions, employees will be able to direct their efforts on real challenges that are high on thinking and creativity. Automation will probably mean that employees need to adapt to a new way of working and acquire new skills to fit into the new dynamics of work. 
 
Challenges to <keyword id="3028653" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="training-and-development">Training and Development</keyword> 
Most companies today are geographically dispersed. Not just that. Many times, companies have a workforce that’s constantly on the field or people that might work in different shift timings. This makes it imperative that your training and development program must be accessible from different locations and time zones. This means that companies will be looking at inherent challenges such as travel costs, language barriers, and translation costs. Consequently, ensuring the consistency of such trainings becomes extremely difficult. As a work-around, many companies collaborate with learning partners and industry experts from outside the organization to update employee skills and expertise. 
 
Most companies I’ve spoken to, also find that the changes in technology are so swift that ensuring an updated course content is a daunting task. It’s also a challenge to find relevant in-house expertise to develop these training and development programs. Ensuring course completion is another challenge that many companies talk about. Learning and Development functions are constantly trying to inspire and motivate employees to drive completion rates. And even then, many companies are unable to objectively track the stickiness of the new skills learned and analyze how useful these are in real-work environment. 
 
Millennials are driving a lot of changes in the way companies operate. Everything from the work timings, company policies, perks and benefits to the lingo at work itself, have transformed. So when companies plan learning and development strategies, traditional methods of classroom trainings might not be cool. Virtual class-rooms and self-paced learning methods that provide content that is more engaging and allow the learner to take up a course at a time and place of his choice is going to be critical. 
 
Above all, to give their best, employees must feel that they are a part of the team and that they are contributing to meaningful work. So while you focus on training and developing your workforce, creating a workplace that is engaging and allows people to work together goes a long way in shaping how your company will sustain and grow. 
 
(Image Credits: Flickr) 
 
(About the Author: This article has been contributed by Krishna Kumar, CEO, <a href="https://www.simplilearn.com/?abVariation=2&amp;utm_expid=60255365-25.9Mj1h4zwQmaWOgv-ZHG-_A.2&amp;utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.in%2F">Simplilearn</a>)

Skills Acquisition - A Strategic Move to Succeed in The Digital Economy

<ul class="summary-list"><li>US troops in Asia and in Europe have been training to conduct <keyword id="12387938" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="close-air-support" source="Orion">close air support</keyword>.</li><li>Close air support requires close coordination between ground troops and pilots to ensure accuracy.</li></ul>In February, US Marines teamed up with Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets in Japan to train for one of the most important but least-known combat skill sets — close air support.Conducting close air support is complicated, requiring tight coordination between troops on the ground and pilots to ensure precise targeting. In recent wars, effective close air support has been a lifeline for ground troops, saving them from certain death or captivity.The training event highlighted the ongoing importance of close air support, particularly in near-peer warfare.<h2>Close air support</h2><div type="image" title="Marine Corps joint terminal attack controller close air support" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92282199" hostid="261"></div>According to the Department of Defense, close air support refers to strikes that are delivered by fixed- or rotary-wing aircraft against enemy targets that are close to friendly forces and that require detailed integration of those aircraft with those ground forces' fire and movement.Conducting such strikes is a collaborative effort between the pilot and the joint tactical air controllers, known as JTACs. A JTAC serves as the pilot's eyes on the ground and is critical to directing munitions to targets, often making the difference between a successful strike and a friendly-fire incident.Employing close air support "in medium- to high-threat environments" against priority targets "is extremely complex and requires extensive coordination to execute successfully," a Green Beret JTAC assigned to the 1st Special Forces Group <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/415736/us-marines-team-up-with-army-special-forces-navy-seals-conduct-cas-training" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a press release about the February exercise.Only the US Air Force has a dedicated joint terminal attack controller career field: the tactical air control party operator. Depending on which Air Force squadron they're assigned to, those operators can be attached to conventional or special-operations units, and in the field they support the commander on the ground by coordinating close air support.<div type="image" title="Air Force tactical air control party operators B-52 bomber" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92282202" hostid="261"></div>Many special-operations units will also send their own commandos through the same courses to qualify them as JTACs, just as they would with specialties like medic, sniper, or breacher.Close air support continues to evolve. In a recent <a href="https://www.usafe.af.mil/News/Press-Releases/Article/2984955/btf-bakes-ace-concepts-into-latest-round-of-integrations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">training event</a> in Europe, the Air Force paired JTACs with B-52 bombers and conducted "beyond line of sight" target acquisition drills, meaning that the JTAC couldn't physically see the target they were calling in an airstrike on.B-52s can conduct precision strikes with "smart bombs," but its rare to see the strategic bomber, some of which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, tasked with close air support.Other US Air Force aircraft, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/f35-will-have-to-do-a10-close-air-support-mission-2022-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like advanced fighter jets</a>, can conduct close air support but are not well suited for it.Only one fixed-wing aircraft, the A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as the Warthog, was specifically designed for close air support, and after nearly 50 years in service it's still regarded as the best at what it does.<h2>The 9 line</h2><div type="image" title="Marine Link 16 close air support" height="1334" width="2000" msid="92282205" hostid="261"></div>Because close air support takes place very close to friendly forces, there is no room for mistakes. The US military has a very strict checklist — called the 9 line — that must be completed before a close air support mission can be approved.The first three lines of the checklist cover the desired ingress point of the aircraft, the heading it should make the run on, and distance it should cover. In essence, these lines tell a pilot the direction to come from and the distance the attack should cover.Lines four to six cover target information — namely its elevation, description, and coordinates. For coordinates, a JTAC might use the US military's grid reference system or standard longitude and latitude.The final three lines cover the target mark, friendly troops' position, and egress. In these lines, the JTAC will inform the aircraft if the target has been marked and how — for example, with colored smoke, infrared laser, or infrared strobe — where the friendly forces are located (which is probably the most important part), and where the aircraft should go after it strikes.<div type="image" title="NATO troops joint terminal attack controller close air support" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92282207" hostid="261"></div>The process isn't foolproof, and fatal mistakes have been made. One of the most well known took place very early in the war in Afghanistan.At the time, US Army Green Berets had linked up with future Afghan president Hamid Karzai in southern Afghanistan and were fighting the Taliban.During one battle, an Air Force tactical air control party operator attached to the Green Beret team gave the wrong coordinates and called in an airstrike <a href="https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2017/03/22/green-berets-who-liberated-afghanistan-from-the-taliban-tell-their-stories-in-new-documentary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on their own position</a>. Two Green Berets <a href="https://www.ballisticmag.com/jason-amerine-oda-574-afghanistan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were killed</a> and several others wounded.Close air support is an essential component of modern warfare, and the US military's experience with it makes it a highly effective fighting force, but it's also a highly dangerous skill set that requires extensive training, attention to detail, and cool under pressure.Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.

Exercises on opposite sides of the planet show US forces training for a little-known but crucial battlefield skill

Tech platform for frontline workforce management <keyword id="3156551" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="betterplace" source="Orion">BetterPlace</keyword> on Tuesday announced to acquire <keyword id="14078129" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="okaygo" source="Orion">OkayGo</keyword>, an on-demand blue-collared gig workforce management platform, for an undisclosed sum. With this move, BetterPlace said it aims to reduce the cost of hiring for enterprises by 15-20 per cent by providing them a pool of pre-skilled and pre-verified workers ready to be deployed for short-term tasks. "Despite having a large employable pool, enterprises in India are now facing an acute shortage of skilled workforce. The only way to solve this problem is to provide a mutually beneficial marketplace geared towards enabling people to be gainfully employed," said <keyword id="2935823" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="pravin-agarwala" source="Orion">Pravin Agarwala</keyword>, Co-founder and CEO at BetterPlace. Through a marketplace model, OkayGo and BetterPlace will enable frontline workers to increase their daily and hourly earnings an average of 25-30 per cent. "We started OkayGo with a clear vision to empower half a billion people to get flexible gig-opportunities and provide businesses with high quality talent instantly. BetterPlace would provide us a fillip to achieve our vision," said <keyword id="14078130" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tomonaga-tejima" source="Orion">Tomonaga Tejima</keyword>, Co-founder at OkayGo. Founded in 2015, BetterPlace has onboarded over 1,500 companies to date. Founded in 2019, OkayGo focuses on increasing earnings per hour of frontline gig workers. Its clients include companies like Flipkart, Swiggy, <keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword>, Jiomart, Zepto and Apollo. Over the past two years, OkayGo said it has increased earnings for more than 10,000 frontline workers. OkayGo is BetterPlace's fourth acquisition so far as it acquired Oust Labs, Aasaanjobs and Waah Jobs in October last year. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/german-inflation-rate-hits-highest-level-since-70s-oil-crisis/articleshow/91911033.cms">German inflation rate hits highest level since 70s oil crisis</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/researchers-identify-rise-in-neurological-condition-guillain-barre-syndrome-following-astrazeneca-vaccine/articleshow/91911722.cms">Researchers identify rise in neurological condition 'Guillain-Barre syndrome' following AstraZeneca vaccine</a>

Blue-collar workforce management platform ﻿BetterPlace aquires OkayGo, aims to provide pre-skilled workers in India

San Francisco, <keyword id="10470926" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="information-technology-company-cognizant">Information technology company Cognizant</keyword> on Monday announced to acquire UK-based Inawisdom, a privately-held AI, machine-learning, and <keyword id="10470928" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-analytics-consultancy">data analytics consultancy</keyword>, for an undisclosed sum. This marks Cognizant's <keyword id="10470929" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ninth-acquisition">ninth acquisition</keyword> in 2020. The company has invested more than $1.1 billion this year alone for acquisitions in areas like data and artificial intelligence, digital engineering, Cloud and Internet of Things (IoT). A <keyword id="10470930" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="premier-consulting-partner">premier consulting partner</keyword> of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Inawisdom will further accelerate Cognizant's innovation on data modernisation and intelligent decision-making, it said in a statement. "Cognizant and Inawisdom's clients will benefit from our shared, deep relationships with AWS and our combined expertise with AI, machine learning, cloud, and data analytics," said Malcolm Frank, President, <keyword id="10470927" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-business-cognizant">Digital Business, Cognizant</keyword>. Inawisdom focuses on delivering cloud-native, full-stack solutions leveraging proven consulting methodologies and an analytics and <keyword id="3678745" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="machine-learning-platform">machine learning platform</keyword> built using AWS. "As a committed and proven expert in AI and machine learning, we are excited to join Cognizant and build on Inawisdom's unique combination of accelerators and skills," said Neil Miles, CEO, Inawisdom. "Being part of Cognizant provides access to a wider, global network of AI and machine learning professionals, and a wealth of new capabilities that will expand our joint service offerings for successful data transformation". Inawisdom has developed the Rapid Analytics and Machine Learning Platform (RAMP), based on AWS cloud technology, to provide a continually evolving and reusable code repository and accelerate AI-driven business outcomes. Using RAMP, coupled with its own Agile consulting approach, Inawisdom helps clients across multiple use cases from enhancing supply chain efficiency to improving customer service and reducing operating costs, often achieving results within weeks. "Cognizant and Inawisdom joining forces is a win for our customers, and we look forward to the industry and data science capabilities the Cognizant team will be able to offer our customers," said Doug Yeum, Head of <keyword id="10470925" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-partner-organisation">Global Partner Organisation</keyword>, AWS. Founded in 2016, Inawisdom has operations in the UK and the Netherlands. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/heres-what-analysts-say-if-you-should-subscribe-or-not-to-the-300-crore-ipo-of-antony-waste-handling-cell/articleshow/79790998.cms">Antony Waste Handling Cell ₹300-crore IPO opens today — these are the risks and opportunities</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/the-founder-of-sugar-cosmetics-explains-how-the-startup-clocked-a-60-growth-in-sales-during-the-pandemic/articleshow/79832966.cms">The founder of SUGAR cosmetics explains how the startup clocked a 60% growth in sales during the pandemic</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/pine-labs-valuation-crosses-2-billion-as-it-raises-fresh-funds-from-lone-pine-capital/articleshow/79833738.cms">Pine Labs' valuation crosses $2 billion as it raises fresh funds from Lone Pine Capital</a>

Cognizant acquires UK-based artificial intelligence and machine learning  company Inawisdom

<ul><li><keyword id="48670" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Morgan-Stanley">Morgan Stanley</keyword> reported third quarter <keyword id="6357061" type="SPONSORED" weightage="60" keywordseo="earnings">earnings</keyword> that beat analyst revenue and income expectations.</li><li>The 17% surge in revenue comes amid an <keyword id="30334" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="acquisition">acquisition</keyword> spree by the firm, as it acquired both E-Trade and Eaton Vance so far this year.</li><li>"We delivered strong quarterly earnings as <keyword id="31671" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="markets">markets</keyword> remained active through the summer months, and our balanced business model continued to deliver consistent, high returns," CEO James Gorman said.</li><li><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/ms-stock?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Watch Morgan Stanley trade live on Markets Insider.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Morgan Stanley posted third quarter earnings that beat analyst expectation in revenue and net income, amid a series of acquisitions that includes a just-completed takeover of E-Trade, and a just-announced buyout of Eaton Vance.Those two acquisitions and a recent upgrade from Moody's will "significantly strengthen our Firm and position us well for future growth," CEO James Gorman said.Strong growth of 20% in sales and trading revenue helped boost earnings as the firm benefited from strong client engagement across a number of its products.Here are the key numbers:Revenue: $11.7 billion, versus the $10.6 billion estimate Adjusted EPS: $1.59, versus the $1.28 estimate GAAP EPS: $1.66, versus the $1.26 estimateRead More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chewy-ryan-cohen-warren-buffett-lessons-apple-investment-2020-10?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chewy cofounder Ryan Cohen lays out the crucial skills he learned from Warren Buffett and his father, and explains why he's all-in on Apple</a>Morgan Stanley's <keyword id="153884" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="wealth-management">wealth management</keyword> unit reported net revenues of $4.7 billion for the quarter, representing year-over-year growth of 7%. "Results reflect strong fee-based flows and significant increase in bank lending and deposits," Morgan Stanley said.Investment banking revenues surged 11% year-over-year despite advisory revenues related to M&amp;A activity falling. But a surge in equity underwriting revenues helped spur growth in the segment, with Morgan Stanley benefiting from IPOs, follow-on offerings, and blocks as clients continued to access capital markets.The firm's provision for credit losses on loans and lending commitments was $111 million for the third quarter of 2020, compared with $51 million for the third quarter of 2019 and $239 million for the second quarter of 2020."We delivered strong quarterly earnings as markets remained active through the summer months, and our balanced business model continued to deliver consistent, high returns," CEO James Gorman said.

Morgan Stanley posts earnings beat driven by strong trading revenue

<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/resources-for-resilience"></a><div type="image" title="small business owner staff workers talking chatting" height="1333" width="1777" msid="78449544" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Smaller businesses are better poised to create diverse and inclusive teams than big corporations — as long as they start early.</li><li>Finding top talent for your company requires diversifying your network before you start <keyword id="6357342" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hiring">hiring</keyword> and expanding the scope of what you're looking for in candidates.</li><li>You can also make your hiring <keyword id="6363690" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Strategy">strategy</keyword> more inclusive by standardizing the interview process so that every candidate gets the same questions and evaluations.</li><li>Creating a diverse and inclusive workforce isn't a chore — it's good for business and something any company can do with the right mindset and effort.</li></ul><keyword id="3864760" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="diversity-and-inclusion">Diversity and inclusion</keyword> departments and initiatives have become a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-hiring-more-diversity-and-inclusion-executives-2020-7">must-have</a> at large corporations over the last few years, but equitable workplaces aren't just for big companies. It's important for small businesses to hire a diverse workforce and foster an inclusive atmosphere as well if they want to maintain top talent. Equity is a virtue in and of itself, but research also shows that diverse teams lead to more <a href="https://www.bcg.com/en-us/publications/2018/how-diverse-leadership-teams-boost-innovation">innovation</a> and higher <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/delivering-through-diversity#">employee satisfaction</a>. Although small businesses don't have nearly the same resources as the multinationals, they're actually better poised to make diversity and inclusion part of their culture from the ground up. Business Insider spoke with leading experts to break down best practices for small businesses hoping to widen the universe of candidates they interview, hire, and retain.<h2>Start early </h2>In some ways, small businesses are better poised to build more inclusive workforces if they commit to it early, according to Stefanie Johnson, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder's business school who studies corporate diversity efforts and hiring biases."We tend to bring on or hire people who [we] know, who are in our circle," Johnson said. "But as companies grow, they tend to replicate that and then it gets out of hand. At that point, it's hard to move the needle on diversity."If you focus on diversity and inclusion early on, it's more likely to be a core part of your company's culture and it won't be something you have to rush to fix later on. "I think it's really important that it's not 'diversity and inclusion' that's siloed as an initiative, but that it's interwoven into everything you do as an organization," Manar Morales, president and CEO of the <a href="https://dfalliance.com/">Diversity and Flexibility Alliance</a>, a diversity research and consulting firm, said. <keyword id="6359222" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Small-Business">Small business</keyword> leaders should think about this in terms of who's getting leadership opportunities, who's getting constructive feedback, and whose voices are being heard in meetings.Without a dedicated department for diversity and inclusion, diversity also needs to be a team effort, according to Morales. That means all employees should get unconscious bias training, learning not just what biases they might have but how to interrupt them."It's more than just doing compliance training," Morales said. The main key to success is accountability, she added. Employees should know that their diversity and inclusion efforts actually matter and they will be asked about them during their performance reviews.<h2>Diversify your network by joining online and in-person groups and discussions</h2>All the diversity experts who spoke to Business Insider said that small business owners should widen and diversify their networks. One of the best ways to do this is to make connections with professional affinity groups or join conversations about diversity in your industry. For example, a small law firm might develop a relationship with a local Black attorneys association or women's bar association. This should be happening regardless of whether you're currently hiring, Johnson added. "If only 31% of Americans are white men, then 90% of your LinkedIn network shouldn't be white men," she said.<h2>Expand the scope of job requirements</h2>When it comes time to look for candidates, take a step back and think about what the role really requires: It might be specific skills, but think about what kinds of transferable skills might come from other industries or what kinds of comparable experiences might also fit. And don't get hung up on resume specifics. If you only look at candidates with Ivy League degrees, you're less likely to find qualified candidates from low-income backgrounds, for example. "You're trying to take the widest possible aperture for what might be successful in that role," said Felicity Hassan, managing director at <a href="https://www.audeliss.com/">Audeliss</a>, an executive search firm dedicated to finding leadership roles for women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ candidates. "It's really about widening the gate rather than lowering the bar."Hassan recommended that hiring managers not get hung up on a particular vision of what a candidate should look like. "It's more about what else they bring to the table," she said. "Are they an innovator, are they someone who can motivate the team, do they have leadership skills?"Once you draft up <keyword id="177739" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="recruiting">recruiting</keyword> statements and job ads, make sure they're as free of bias as possible by taking out any gender-specific pronouns or making sure that photographs include diverse groups of people. The National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology has created a <a href="https://www.ncwit.org/resources/ncwit-tips-writing-better-job-ads">tip sheet</a> with specific examples of how to write a job ad with minimum bias, and <a href="https://textio.com/products/culture/">Textio</a> offers tools to help companies create more inclusive language in their hiring and marketing texts.<h2>Standardize the interview process</h2>Before you start the interview process, take a look at your company's demographic hiring data, said Y-Vonne Hutchinson, founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.thereadyset.co/">ReadySet</a>, a diversity and inclusion consulting firm."Assess who's applying," Hutchinson said. "And then look at who does well in the interview process and who gets hired." If you find biases in the process, correct them before you start to bring new candidates in. Everyone should go through the same process, whether they applied cold off of a job posting or they're the COO's best friend. This means "making sure you're not changing the questions you ask from one person to the next person and making sure the questions map on to the job requirements," Hutchinson said. Everyone who's conducting the interviews should take notes right away so that their impressions aren't filtered by candidates they see later.When you're narrowing down your candidate choices, "make sure that you're not looking for someone who is a culture fit, but who is a culture add," Hutchinson said.Business owners should also be careful to avoid tokenizing people during the interview process, Johnson, who's studied the ways that biases affect hiring, said. "One really key easy thing to do is every time you're hiring for a job, make sure you have a diverse candidate slate," Johnson said. "Having just one person of color makes that person appear like the diversity candidate. But when you have two, it increases their odds of getting hired exponentially."Finally, remember that creating a diverse and inclusive workplace shouldn't be a chore. It's the right thing to do, and it's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/benefits-of-diverse-companies-2017-3">good for business</a>. "It boils my blood to hear people talking about diversity and saying, 'But we didn't want to compromise on the person we hired,'" Hassan said. "If you feel like there's a compromise then you're just not doing it right."

You Searched For "skills acquisition" and got 12 results

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Asana has hired over 500 employees in the last year. Its head of people reflects on the steps she took to guide the company through 2020.

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Skills Acquisition - A Strategic Move to Succeed in The Digital Economy

Guest Author

Exercises on opposite sides of the planet show US forces training for a little-known but crucial battlefield skill

Stavros Atlamazoglou

Blue-collar workforce management platform BetterPlace aquires OkayGo, aims to provide pre-skilled workers in India

IANS

Cognizant acquires UK-based artificial intelligence and machine learning company Inawisdom

IANS

Morgan Stanley posts earnings beat driven by strong trading revenue

Matthew Fox

How to build a diverse and inclusive workforce as a small business

Stephanie Russell-Kraft

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You Searched For "skills acquisition" and got 12 results

Job skills to change majorly by 2030 as AI inputs speed up

Anagh Pal

Demand for five digital skills like Gen-AI and data analytics to pick steam exponentially

Anagh Pal

I'm the head of talent acquisition at Vanguard. Here are the 3 things I look for in candidates and my favorite interview question to ask.

Robin Madell

PwC Chair says the 'war for talent' could last another decade. Why he's never seen a more challenging time for CEOs.

Tim Paradis,Josée Rose

Workers have the most leverage they've had in a generation, and a recruiting expert says they should use it to their advantage

Dominick Reuter

Asana has hired over 500 employees in the last year. Its head of people reflects on the steps she took to guide the company through 2020.

Lauryn Haas,Shana Lebowitz

Skills Acquisition - A Strategic Move to Succeed in The Digital Economy

Guest Author

Exercises on opposite sides of the planet show US forces training for a little-known but crucial battlefield skill

Stavros Atlamazoglou

Blue-collar workforce management platform ﻿BetterPlace aquires OkayGo, aims to provide pre-skilled workers in India

IANS

Cognizant acquires UK-based artificial intelligence and machine learning company Inawisdom

IANS

Morgan Stanley posts earnings beat driven by strong trading revenue

Matthew Fox

How to build a diverse and inclusive workforce as a small business

Stephanie Russell-Kraft

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides

Blue-collar workforce management platform BetterPlace aquires OkayGo, aims to provide pre-skilled workers in India