Exclusive Interview with Steve Flook, President and CEO, iHire

How iHire Adapted, Transformed, And Emerged Stronger Through Covid-19

 

“In 2020, we learned how critical it is to be adaptable and agile – not just in the business realm, but in our everyday lives. Almost overnight, we had to rethink and rearrange our sales, marketing, product development strategies – and act on those strategies quickly enough to respond to rapidly evolving customer needs and to preserve business operations,” says Steve Flook, President and CEO, iHire, a career-oriented platform that brings candidates and employers together in 56 industry-focused communities.

As a technologist focused on software systems and information architecture, Steve has been at the forefront of the HR and recruitment technology space for nearly a decade. In an exclusive interaction with HR.com, Steve talks about how difficult 2020 has been, what he learned and his outlook for 2021.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: How has the work culture at iHire transformed over the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic?

Steve: Our entire workforce has adapted extraordinarily well to a 100% remote environment. Although everyone is working from home, we’ve all managed to stay connected, engaged, and productive these past several months. The reason for that, I think, goes back to the strength of our culture and how we communicated and interacted with one another, pre-Covid. 

By continuing to lean on our company core values – accountable, committed, collaborative, and innovative, to name a few – our culture seamlessly transferred to a remote environment. We’ve also managed to keep morale up with plenty of virtual social activities and even provide our employees with a monthly stipend to offset their home internet costs. 

Q: What has been your biggest learning and the biggest challenge from the year 2020? How have they transformed the way you look at the world now?

Steve: In 2020, we learned how critical it is to be adaptable and agile – not just in the business realm, but in our everyday lives. Almost overnight, we had to rethink and rearrange our sales, marketing, product development strategies – and act on those strategies quickly enough to respond to rapidly evolving customer needs and to preserve business operations. 
 

For example, in response to the mass layoffs, we amplified our Virtual Outplacement Services to help employers support their transitioning employees in finding new jobs. We also launched a new product feature called Career Explorer that allows job seekers in industries hit hard by Covid (like the hospitality industry) to seek alternative career paths that align with their transferable skill sets. 

Amidst all the challenges of 2020, my view of the world has certainly changed, but in a good way. I am more aware of what’s truly important in life and am able to count my blessings (and iHire’s blessings, too). The opportunity for us to continue to bring value to job seekers and employers when they need it most – even in the most challenging of times – is something I don’t take for granted.

Q: How will the recruiting process shape up in 2021? What are going to be the challenges and how should HR professionals address them?

Steve: With so many unemployed job seekers, employers and recruiters are facing an influx of applications. HR professionals who are already busy wearing multiple hats will need to find an efficient way to screen applicants and find the right hires without compromising the candidate experience. 

It’s going to be more important now than ever for employers to communicate with applicants – even with an automated message – to inform them of their status and keep them from falling into the “resume black hole.” 

Another challenge in 2021 will be sheer uncertainty. Employers hit hard by Covid-19 are wondering whether they should start hiring again or if they should take a more cautious approach. My advice for HR pros who are unsure when and how to begin hiring is to focus on building their talent pipelines. 

Fill your most critical positions and keep qualified applicants and “silver medalists” in your back pocket for when you’re ready to operate on all cylinders. Those with strong talent pipelines will have a competitive advantage by reducing their time to fill. In other words, they’ll have access to great candidates who are already engaged with their brands when they are ready to hire.

Q: Job dissatisfaction and employee turnover rates increased in 2020. What should employers be concentrating on in order to retain employees? 

Steve: The past 11 months have been stressful, to say the least, so employers must now focus on their employees’ wellbeing. Employers need to listen to their staff and increase their workplace flexibility -- preventing burnout, addressing mental health issues, and keeping remote teams connected should be priorities. Offering more flex time or PTO and showing small tokens of appreciation are just a couple of ways to support stressed-out employees and make them feel valued. Putting your people first in 2021 will be crucial to talent retention. 

Q: What will you be focusing on in 2021?

Steve: iHire has an exciting roadmap ahead of us, but I can’t give everything away! One of our main focuses will be introducing richer forms of communication and interaction with candidates – any time, any place. For example, we’re working to facilitate employers’ communication with candidates with messaging tools right on our platform. 

Q: With the unemployment rate at 6.7%, do you see the U.S. job market recovering in 2021? How?

Steve: We’ve already been seeing signs of recovery since May 2020. While some industries have been decimated by Covid, others are thriving, like transportation, logistics, and healthcare. We’re also seeing job seekers pursuing career changes and migrating to industries where opportunities are more plentiful. So, recovery may come from a shift to thriving sectors. But as we learned in 2020, it’s impossible to predict what the future holds – so my best advice is to stay vigilant, resourceful, and nimble.  

Q: What are some of the key workplace trends you see emerging this year?

Steve: Remote work remains a big one. Employers have learned that they can be just as – if not more – efficient with remote workforces, which also allows them to tap into a broader talent pool. They are no longer limited to hiring staff in their geographic location. Similarly, we’re going to see more “hybrid” workplaces emerge, in which some employees work remotely, and others work in an office. 

Q: What do you think is lacking in the current diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives and why are they failing? What should HR be focusing on to improve their DE&I initiatives?

Steve: These are huge questions, both in size and importance. Unfortunately, the roots of all three issues are not easily resolved overnight. Misaligned expectations for speed to “fix” is one pitfall. 

HR needs to get senior leadership support first, then involve their non-HR staff in the planning and execution, and consistently drive incremental improvements in DE&I. This shouldn’t be looked at as a temporary taskforce or project, but rather as an indefinite and deliberate focus on the values and benefits of organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion.  

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