The summit focused on several facets of the industry:
Tools and processes used for successful recruiting: Serent’s HR summit launched with a presentation, by Serent’s own, Rebecca Granne, on recruiting. She emphasized how vital it was to have a structured approach to hiring the right person. Rebecca guided attendees through a case study from ArbiterSports on the 9-step process they developed, to help mitigate the risk of hiring the wrong person:
1. Complete job description
2. Preliminary interview
3. Email sample
4. 1st Secondary interview – Focused on the candidate’s background
5. 2nd Secondary interview – Focused on the role
6. Presentation webinar
7. Referral call
8. Share findings and make decision
9. Inform candidate and close
This process involves multiple levels of interviews, a test of one’s writing ability and the completion of a presentation webinar. Referral calls are then made to solidify a candidate's potential. All of this data is gathered and used to make a well-informed decision on the candidate's fit for the role.
How to create a performance-driven culture: Companies and their executives are measured on performance—maximizing growth and profit. So what's the most crucial factor in meeting these company performance goals? It's the day-to-day performance of the employees. The Senior Vice President of People and Culture at Compeat shows how they focus on appreciation to improve the employee experience and integrate talent discussions into their business review that happens every six months. These talent reviews:
- Align an organization’s talent strategy to its business priorities
- Use a nine-box grid to discuss employee performance plus potential to be a leader
- Define succession plans
- Identify top training/development and reward planning actions across the company
- Pinpoint critical roles by functional teams to support business the next 6–12 months
These strategic talent reviews also help a company retain the right employees and position them into leadership roles where they can have the biggest impact. A talent SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) analysis is used to discover recommendations and strategies to help achieve a company’s talent priorities. Focus on leveraging strengths and opportunities to overcome weaknesses and threats.
Optimizing healthcare offerings in small companies: According to the 2018 KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey, the average annual premium for family coverage as well as single coverage has risen by over 200% in the last twenty years. So healthcare costs are an important factor for any organization. Three ways to develop a strategy for healthcare coverage were discussed: program optimization, vertical programs and leveraged sourcing. Program optimization means they analyze each portfolio company's programs to identify conversion opportunities, which typically addresses a high level of spending with immediate savings and minimal change to employees. Vertical programs aggregate spending and requirements across many clients to build new program offerings. Leveraged sourcing increases the combined purchasing power of the Serent portfolio to create immediate value. That translates into custom-sourced contracts that deliver a superior value to what a company can achieve on its own or by working through a consultant.
Our HR summit was a productive and insightful two days of presentations and open dialogue. We highlighted best practices to move your organization in the right direction, whether it involves healthcare coverage, culture management or recruitment. Once again, this year's HR summit was a success and we hope to see you at our next one.
