How to Better Onboard New Hires w/ Thomas Kottukapally, EMP Trust

The labor market is buoyant and demand for talent is at a high. In this HRchat we focus on how to onboard salaried and hourly workers at scale and consider some of the main recruiting trends of 2021.

Bill's guest is Thomas Mathew Kottukapally, Sr. Director and Partner at EMP Trust HR, a software technology company that provides HR solutions and services in 40+ countries. 

Questions Include:

Tell us about EMP Trust Solutions

• Talk to me about the complexities associated with managing employees across multiple worksites, job locations, and countries. How is it further complicated by the needs of salaried v hourly workers? 
• Increased engagement, lower costs, improved retention, and a shorter hiring process are a few of the benefits of a shift to internal mobility. We'll talk about hiring from outside the org shortly. But first, are companies prioritizing internal hiring? If so why? - 
• New skills are the top growth competency for recruiters. These skills are focused on diversity and inclusion, making decisions, and learning how to use an HR strategy. They need to be able to bring clear and continuous talent data to the marketplace, implement a new employer brand, and streamline the virtual hiring process. Tell me more about how recruiting has dramatically changed over the past couple of years. 
• Organizations across the globe have reshaped their talent acquisition procedures with increased use of Automated HR tools and AI. Many employers believe that the entire recruitment process will be automated by the end of the 2020s. What's your take?
• In the wake of the pandemic, we have seen a dramatic increase in the hiring of recent graduates and first-timers.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Welcome to the HR chat podcast, bringing the best of the HR and talent communities to you.

Speaker 2: 0:21

The labor market is buoyant right now, and demand for talent is at a high in this HR chat. We're going to focus on how to onboard salaried and hourly workers at scale and consider some of the main recruiting trends of 2021. My guest, this time is Thomas Matthew Caturra Pally, senior director and partner at AmTrust solutions, a software technology company that provides HR solutions and services in over 40 countries and job locations over internet and internet networks. So it'd be on my short introduction there. Thomas, why don't you start by telling our listeners a bit about yourself?

Speaker 3: 0:58

Well, you know, I'm a software engineer by training. I spent over 20 plus years building out software for senior executives across enterprise software. I lead AmTrust as a senior director and managing partner helping the bolt, you know, solutions. Uh, really a lot of the credit for building the solutions goes to my wonderful team of employees who spend every day trying to create wonderful products that can be used by lay people and betcha people to improve, you know, their shout onboarding experiences. So, um, that's a little bit of background. Um, I've spent some time actually volunteering at the local Sherm chapter, uh, where I'd learned to, you know, work with other HR leaders in the space and try to learn from them so we can improve our software. That's a little bit of background about what I do at AmTrust.

Speaker 2: 1:46

Perfect. Thank you very much, Thomas. Now then why don't you take a minute or two and tell us a bit more about AmTrust solutions. You started mentioning there a little bit about the fantastic staff that you have. Uh, please give us an overview of the company.

Speaker 3: 1:59

Well, you know, AmTrust, you know, we like to say we are the best of breed provider for, you know, employee onboarding software. Uh, we tend to believe that we are one of the better platforms in the industry today, uh, that is focused on creating great employee onboarding experiences, complying with the law, um, today, uh, solutions help companies to build in, um, recruiting, um, you know, bringing the mind and nurturing the employee through their first 90 days, helping companies to fully engage the employee to create great onboarding experiences for them. Uh, we support companies like you mentioned in over 40 plus countries. You know, I think we are on a 41st country today. Uh, we have a lot of fortune 500 companies, you know, name brands, such as PepsiCo, Cisco Blackboard, and a couple of others, you know, out of Canada, I believe, you know, we have a great company Joey's restaurant and that we support them for, you know, onboarding them out of the U S and Canada. So we get a, of very large companies and small and medium-sized companies today. Uh, we like to say we are one of the fastest growing SAS companies and that just space. And we have seen a lot of companies just low what we do. So, and I think it's, uh, to my point before, I think it's a great credit to the employees, you know, at my organization, or spend time trying to create the best solutions possible for our clients.

Speaker 2: 3:23

Talk to the HR chats audience about the complexities associated with managing employees across multiple work sites, job locations, and countries. How is it further complicated by the needs of salaried versus hourly workers?

Speaker 3: 3:38

That's a great question. You know, quite often, you know, when we look at their chair space, there's no one size fits all cookie cutter onboarding solutions. Typically doesn't work. Once you go across multiple borders. So many often companies have to deal with what we call complex laws and regulations, not only in the federal and state space in the us is a hybrid of laws. You know, what you might have in California might be very different from the forms that you may have to have an employee complete. Let's say in the DC area this year is when I am from. Um, so we tend to look at, you know, what companies tend to have with the forms that they need to complete. Um, the hiring for salaried employees obviously, um, is very different from an hourly worker with hourly workers. You have wages that need to be defined overtime wages that need to be defined. So within our solution, what we try to do is to provide, you know, the regulatory background for companies when they bring an employee on, so they can complete in our required state and federal level tax forms, uh, differences between national tax ID is across the board when you're going across countries. Uh, when you look at just the U S social security number versus, you know, a sin number, a social insurance number out of Canada. So we're finding differences, not only in the data that you need to capture, but also in the laws that need to go back in there. One of the other things that we have to look at is that, you know, companies have different record keeping requirements based on the type of form, how long they need to retain it. If you are a federal contractor today in the U S obviously you have to comply very often. Uh, something known as employee verification with the department of Homeland security is the verified system. So there are differences, but then, uh, in, uh, the type of vertical that you are in the type of people that you're heading in a way you're actually having them at. So what we try to do is to provide you the regulatory framework, put it in a nice little onboarding experience that tells employees what forms to complete, what tasks they need to do. So they're more productive for day one. And I think this goes back to creating solutions that can really make a difference for people who don't want to manage this, but have want to have a company take care of all of it. So that's what we do for them.

Speaker 2: 5:57

Increased engagement, lower costs, improve retention, and the shorter hiring process, or a few of the benefits of a shift to internal mobility. Thomas. Um, maybe it'd be, you can talk a little bit about why companies are prioritizing internal hiring, and if they are doing that, which I do suspect you're going to say they are, uh, why what's the, what's the reason for that. So,

Speaker 3: 6:20

And we take a look at it, you know, really my answer is it depends, it depends on the size of the company. So for example, if you are a growing company and you're growing from a small base of employees, it's very hard to find that internal mobility to put people in the right positions. And I think especially if you are growing as aggressively as we are, uh, we do tend to hire people from outside. So internal mobility typically can work for you. Uh, if you have a, you know, a greater employee size of employees that you can actually fill in back, fill into certain positions, um, our effort, at least on a product side has been to take a look at and see are they employees. We can mentor into leadership positions where spend the time with the company. Uh, and we also look for both vertical and swell as an AutoZone fed when employees are being looked at for my internal mobility perspective. So the answer is really, if you don't have the talent, in-house, you have to go outside. Um, you know, if you do have the talent, I think you want to give opportunities for employees to actually do better and to actually help them with their carrier goals as much as possible. So I would send to say that size of the company matters the type of people that you're having matters. So internal mobility is all dependent on those two factors.

Speaker 2: 7:38

So as you know, there's also been a bit of a focus recently, Thomas on re-skilling recruiters themselves. Uh, in fact, new skills are the top growth competency for recruiters at the moment. Uh, these skills are focused on diversity and inclusion, making decisions and learning how to use an HR strategy better. They need to be able to bring clear and continuous talent data to the mock marketplace, of course, uh, implement a new employer brand and streamline the virtual hiring process. Tell me more about how recruiting has dramatically changed over the past couple of years when it comes to the skills needed.

Speaker 3: 8:16

Well, I think bill, it goes back to what my core competency is. You know, I do tend to think that some of these questions are maybe better for my HR operations or tend to work on a day-to-day, but here's my take on it, right? When we look at what companies are actually buying us, things that they are looking for, uh, we are finding the recruiting, especially talent acquisition to your point is looking at data, you know, what are they hiding from with job boards, actually giving them the greatest benefits? Um, you know, where does that final heading come from? You know, what does that funnel look like for them? Uh, we have seen a great, um, you know, set of tools or AI based into talent decisions that are coming through, you know, which is kind of likely to be a better fit. We have seen the rise of assessments that I help in companies to actually make decisions about. Is this the right employee for me? Do they have the right skills? Do they have the right temperament to fill in those positions? Um, so we are seeing the rise of tools such as video interviewing, you know, if you're talking to me about five years ago and talked about, you know, how would interviews be done? I would have said that we did interviews for the last on my scale, but, you know, with the pandemic, you know, I think we have seen a great uptick in reading to reading tools out there. Uh, we are, we are seeing recruiters increasingly use those common names, uh, you know, to actually interview remote candidates as well as local candidates, because you can meet with somebody in the midst of a pandemic. So I think we are finding that the tools that recruiters are likely to use there is a shift. We are direct nicer as a shift, and we have to continue to build and to evolve solutions that will help them. You know, you mentioned diversity and inclusion. Uh, that's something that, as you know, in the U S there's been a lot of discussions over the last couple of years, you know, how do we promote minority leadership across these companies? You know, do we promote women in leadership for that matter? And if you look at some of the stats that we are looking at, uh, we have seen that company is, uh, consciously, uh, deciding to build in more minority participation, uh, also tending to pay, I would say, more equal pay for the same amount of work that has been acquired. I call one of the month trusts that has been going across industry. So I think we are finding those changes tying to start to take place and take shape. And what we also find is that recruiters need to be aware that they can't go back with the oldest strategy is that they have been used to, they have learned to use more tools that will help them, uh, to analyze the data better, and that allowed them to hire remotely with remote and interviewing, um, also take the help of professional assessments tools that are there to actually get a better fit by now, great employees, you know, typically starts with a great fit. Um, so if you put around peg in a square hole, it's typically not going to work. So I think people are attending to use some of these skills, you know, uh, to define what that looks like for a clueless.

Speaker 2: 11:21

Well, I guess that could be a moot point in the coming years, actually, Thomas, uh, because many employers believe that the entire recruitment process we automated by the end of the 2020s, you know, it organizations across the globe reshape their talent acquisition procedures with increased use of for example, automated HR tools. And of course, AI, what's your take?

Speaker 3: 11:43

I, I don't believe so. I think there could be a lot more automation. I think we are seeing the rise of automation, but I do believe that, you know, that personal touch, the ability for an employee to go and talk to an HR person, um, to, you know, tell them what their problems are for an alpha chart, to look at their performance, to mentor them, to set goals for them. That is still a part of human interaction that you need to have. So I don't think a mission is ever going to replace that, uh, you know, mission and that, um, you know, human interactions that you need to do with your employees. Uh, one of the great downsides of that remote work is that, you know, you're no longer meeting in person. So companies have to say, how do we encourage team collaboration? Uh, how do we keep people's mental health going? You know, because, you know, there's some only so much you want to do. So I don't believe primarily because of those reasons, you're likely to have a full automation happen. We will see automation increase in hiring decisions. What do I mean by that? Well, you know, very often, you know, today actually into some of the tools that I'm seeing across the board, even when you're hiring somebody, the system will allow you to top candidates rise up based on how your resume has been built up the skills that you have match up with the jobs that you are looking for. Uh, we are saying that, you know, uh, the ability to score individuals based on responses that you provide so that your top candidates and automatically ranked those are changes that you will see, continue to happen. Uh, we are seeing the rise of chatbots that will help to employees to guide them through the recruiting, through the onboarding experiences. So we're seeing a lot of AI based tools that actually help employees in the journey to find the right carrier. But I think the human touch that you get with HR working directly with people, either as part of a orientation as part of training and selecting the final down select, I think that is still going to require that human touch. That just my opinion, but I believe that is a trend that we will see. We'll see a lot more automation, but I think we're still going to need people. Okay.

Speaker 2: 13:55

Thank you. Well, I guess, uh, there's only one way listeners to, to find out and that's to remain an avid listener of the HR track show, uh, well, up to 20, 30 and beyond, and then we'll, we'll all know for sure. Anyway, let's continue through Thomas in the wake of the pandemic. We've seen a dramatic increase in the hiring of recent graduates, and first timers wages have gone up to, uh, here's a quote for you according to a recent report from the national association of colleges and employers, the average starting salary for the college class of 2020 was$55,260. A 2.5% increase on the class of 2019 and an 8.5% increase on the class of 2018 among graduates who majored in science, technology, engineering and mathematic fields. Average earnings were even higher end quote, why are companies so reliant on grads to fill the talent gaps at the moment?

Speaker 3: 14:59

I think that is going to be a trend in the sense when you have the great resignation as you like to call it, right. You know, people opting not to come back to the workforce. We had single moms, some mothers, you know, people who are managing children at home that are trying and struggling with the pandemic to help their children read classes. Um, as well as with the work that they have to do at home, which really don't have the childcare support that they need to get back to the workforce. So these are real trends that we have to recognize. Um, we also have to find, you know, replacement positions for people who are aging out from the workforce, you know, and that's a very natural part of it. Um, so when we look at, you know, classes of employees, you talked a little bit about salary increases. I can tell you for a fact that is very true. You know, it used to be that, uh, you know, three years ago you would offer somebody a starting salary and they'd be very happy. We are finding that their experiences are, people are now asking for more. They recognize that they can get more they're negotiating better on their starting salary. Um, so I think you're always going to get that fresh look at talent that is either replacing talent. Now that is happening at what I call the starting positions. I don't think you're going to find fresh talent, come into a middle management position that is going to be so hard to fill. And I think that's where the challenge for most companies are filling out those people who are, might be senior or in mid-level positions that are either, you know, deciding to opt for a carrier change or opting out of the workforce, trying to get those positions filled, I think is going to be the great challenge for companies, not necessarily at the low end positions or the starting level positions. But I think across the board, we are seeing salary increases. And I think that is going to be a trend.

Speaker 2: 16:51

Hey, Thomas, we are coming towards the end of this particular interview. Um, a couple more questions for you. The concept of a successful onboarding process was fundamentally redefined by the pandemic and remote work. Of course. Can you wrap up today by sharing what you're seeing that's working when it comes to making employees feel welcomed as part of the onboarding process

Speaker 3: 17:15

And that that's, um, that's a great question. Right? So a successful onboarding, I think really starts by giving employees the information to be successful from day one. So a lot of the tools that are out there actually help to onboard employees, you know, with forms. I think employers want to see more than forms as part of employee onboarding. They want to see feel, especially if they're working remotely. What does the team look like? Who are they going to report to? Do they have great mentorship into the company? So I think some of the tools that we are talking about successful onboarding goes back into team awareness, you know, who they're working with, you know, what type of training that you can provide for them remotely, especially if they're working remotely, which is one of the big challenges that you have at starting level positions. How do you mentor and train a staff employee that is starting out when you don't have them coming into an office where you could typically train them? Um, well, there are differences of opinion, but when you know, is online training as effective as being, working with somebody that you're working with side by side. And I think a lot of that goes back to employees and now setting them up with maybe a mentor, somebody that's a work buddy that can actually show them how you know that, um, you know, their first few months can actually look like. And I think that makes for a successful onboarding. Um, I think we are also finding that as part of the onboarding, uh, getting to know company policies, you know, letting them know what the do's and the don'ts are, are, does working in Washington DC, work differently for somebody working in Toronto, making sure that they get to see local experiences and not who the local people are. I think that tends to make a difference because something that people can connect with. So I think a successful onboarding really goes back into not really providing them forms to complete, but also creating great experiences for them that will help them with, you know, performing better on the job, setting out goals for them within the system. So I think it goes back to, you know, building out missing pieces that may not be there in your onboarding program today.

Speaker 2: 19:21

Awesome. Thank you. And just finally, for today, Thomas, how can, how can our listeners learn more about you? So for example, I got lucky. I reached out to you on LinkedIn and the timing was just right to set up this interview today. Um, so maybe LinkedIn is a place to connect with you personally, but also how can they learn more about AmTrust solutions? Uh, please give us a lowdown.

Speaker 3: 19:43

Well, I think the best way to learn more about the company about AmTrust and, you know, very often people ask us, how do you spell AmTrust? You know, and I like to say, this is the easiest way to remember us employees trust HR. And that's the job mandate that that's how we actually look at our software. Can we make it easy for employees to actually use a platform for a job people to actually provide that trust relationship with the employee? So M crust at char EMP trust HR www AmTrust char is the best way to find us on the web. You can also find us at different conferences, but you know, very often if you're trying to reach me, I think LinkedIn is the best. I tend to respond to emails better and LinkedIn better than actually looking at, you know, my phone picking up on my voicemail. So just some closing thoughts, AmTrust www amtrust.com, or if you search on AmTrust HR in Google, we should actually be able to come up as a first base that you're looking for. So thank you again, bill for having me on the show

Speaker 2: 20:46

And thank you, Thomas and listeners as always until next

Speaker 4: 20:49

Time. Happy working.

Speaker 1: 20:53

Thank you for listening to the HR chat brought to you by the HR Gazette.