DirectEmployers Association

UnitedHealth Group’s Angie Grilliot on Finding Talent, Core Values and the Future Job Market

Nancy Holland — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:56:57 +0000

This month’s interview features one of our new 2011/2012 Board Members, Angie Grilliot. After taking an unpaid internship 16 years ago, Angie has found a fulfilling career helping people find work and developing expertise around compliance.

Angie is also a member of the DirectEmployers Recruitment Regulatory Compliance Committee, Director of Talent Delivery at UnitedHealth Group and a mother of four girls. She masterfully balances her commitments and was kind enough to sit down for a great in-depth conversation about her career, what her team does well, how she benefits from DirectEmployers and the hopes she has for her children.

Nancy: Tell me about how you got to your position at UnitedHealth Group.

Angie: HR was a fairly new program when I was in college. I sought out an internship, which ended up being unpaid at a local hospital in the human resources department. That eventually led to my first job at the same hospital doing administrative duties. After a couple of years, I moved into recruiting position at retirement community. UnitedHealth Group was expanding in Ohio at the time and I got my third job out of college within a 2-year period – now I’ve been there for 16 years.

Nancy: What differentiates UnitedHealth Group’s approach to finding talent?

Angie: Not many people know UnitedHealth Group’s mission is to help people live healthier lives. We need to find people who can really resonate with our mission. It’s not necessarily about finding someone who can work on the benefit services side of the house and pay claims, it’s about that person fitting within that idea that we’re really here to help with a system, a healthcare system as it were, for that purpose and mission.

We’re really looking for candidates who demonstrate 5 core values – performance, integrity, innovation, compassion and relationship development. I feel like our talent acquisition team absolutely demonstrates those values every day in how they treat candidates, how they work with our hiring managers, how they think about innovative ways to find people and how they interact with candidates in a social media space.

Nancy: What do you feel your team does really well?

Angie: First of all, I think our talent acquisition team is best in class. We’ve looked at ways to really build almost an internal search function, especially for our executive-level placements.
Our talent acquisition team is great at developing relationships, building a pipeline of talent and knowing where the talent belongs within the organization. Our recruiters are actually aligned by function as opposed to business segment. The beauty of being functionally aligned is that all of our recruiters can work together to figure out, “If I have an IT professional, what part of the organization really has the need?” There are many ways candidates can interact with our recruiters. Even on the very front end of the process through recruiter chat and social media, we look at the candidate as our customer. I think a lot of recruitment teams look at the hiring manager as their primary customer. And of course, we have both, but the candidate is a key customer too and could be a current customer of our business or will be in the future, so we really have to think about our interactions.

Nancy: What would you say are some of the key benefits of DirectEmployers that you and your team utilize on a regular basis or that you find the most valuable?

Angie: Initially our partnership with DirectEmployers was really about finding a solution to post all of our jobs with the state job services. That’s been wonderful and we’ve been able to meet our compliance needs. Last year was my first DirectEmployers Conference and I was so pleasantly surprised on the networking ability, to find people in other companies who do similar roles as myself. It’s not like I don’t have other ways to network with people, but I was just surprised at the level of people who are focused on compliance within a recruiting function and the number of people from a staff perspective who are really focused on some of those diversity initiatives.

With the veterans outreach for example, it’s not just about “Oh, how many job boards can we make sure your jobs are going to,” but rather “How do we build partnerships and testify on Capitol Hill to make sure that we’re really shaping the future of policy as a representative of the employers?” For UnitedHealth Group we’ve seen value in getting our voice heard through an association, without needing to do that work internally ourselves.

We’re just now starting to get into the idea of the .jobs and are we going to put together some microsites.

Check out some of UnitedHealth Group’s rankings and awards:

Earned a top rating of 100 percent three years straight on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation
Ranked #1 for “Innovation in the Insurance and Managed Care” category on Fortune Magazine’s 2011 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies

Nancy: Given your role professionally and as a mother, what are your hopes for your girls in terms of the job market and how they’ll progress as they enter into their careers?

Angie: I think about a lot of different things. First of all because I have four girls, I’m amazed at the world of work difference now. During the 2008 election for example, I found it fascinating that none of my kids were surprised that an African American and female candidate were going head to head in the primary. For them it was just normal and it made me reflect on the progress we’ve made as a country. And I think a lot of credit can be given to human resource professionals out there who have helped drive that idea of diversity in the workplace. That gives me a lot of hope that there’s not going to be a glass ceiling, or that phrase is won’t even exist in their vocabulary as they are going through college.

Thank you so much Angie for taking your valuable time to share with us. You can also catch Angie sharing some wise words for job seekers in the following video made for the Social Jobs Partnership: http://vimeo.com/33534439.

DirectEmployers Receives Recognition from the State of Arkansas

Nancy Holland — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:28:31 +0000

Through our relationship with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), DirectEmployers continues to develop outstanding partnerships with state workforce agencies.

Recently our efforts, and particularly efforts of DirectEmployers staff member Christy Merriman, were cited in a letter from Arlee Williams, Director of the Department of Workforce Services of the State of Arkansas.

As a result of our efforts and technology, their database of job openings has increased from an average of 1,300 to consistently over 10,000 each day in the past five years!

I am very proud to share the full letter from Arkansas below, and personally thank all of our hard working individuals here and at NASWA for making these results possible.

(Click image to see full size PDF)

Committee on Education and the Workforce Requests More Information from OFCCP on the NPRM Regarding Individuals with Disabilities

Nancy Holland — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:12:02 +0000

The Committee on Education and the Workforce recently submitted a letter to Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, requesting additional information around the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) December 9, 2011 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding individuals with disabilities.

The letter questions the legal authority permitting the OFCCP to establish a numerical hiring standard as well as concern with instituting a quota. In addition, the Committee goes on to express concern over the NPRM asking job applicants to self-identify as disabled – this conflicts with the statutory language of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This also means relying on accurate self-identification and disclosure during the application process, which, as the letter states, “…has the potential to create more problems than solutions.”

Lastly, the Committee voices concern about the paperwork and recordkeeping that would be required. The letter references a President Obama comment that, “sometimes rules and regulations have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business–burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs.”

The letter ends with several inquiries and asks the OFCCP to respond no later than February 10, 2012. In addition, a request was made to extend the NPRM’s comment period by 90 days from the current closing date of February 7, 2012.

View the letter and let us know what you think. What concerns do you have or share with the Committee on Education and the Workforce?

DirectEmployers Association is working diligently to stay on top of this ongoing discussion and will continue to provide helpful resources through webinars coupled with updates and a blog series in the Pipeline (online Member community). Members interested in submitting comments to the OFCCP and learning more about the NPRM and Section 503 can contact Julie Cook at JCook@DirectEmployers.org.

Honored for Commitment to Military Spouses and Veterans Seeking Employment

DirectEmployers — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:56:11 +0000

DirectEmployers Association’s Executive Director Honored for Dedication to Helping Military Families and Veterans Reenter the Workforce

INDIANAPOLIS, February 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Now, more than ever, it’s important to recognize those who have assisted the growing number of military spouses and veterans alike transition back into the civilian workforce. Bill Warren, Executive Director of DirectEmployers Association, was honored for just that.

In a ceremony held at the Pentagon, the Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (MSCCN) presented Warren with The Military to Civilian Jobs Network Alliance Award. Deborah Kloeppel, President and CEO of MSCCN states, “We are pleased to honor Mr. Warren for his valuable contribution in helping members and spouses of the National Guard and Reserve Families reenter the workforce after these individuals have selflessly served their country.”

The MSCCN and DirectEmployers Association created a partnership in August of 2010 due to the mutual respect for helping both spouses of service men and veterans reenter the workforce. DirectEmployers Association provides access to over 900,000 vetted jobs at no cost to the largest job bank for military spouses in the country at US.jobs.

As a former U.S. Army veteran, Warren and DirectEmployers Association understand the need for an organization like MSCCN that provide job-readiness services to transitioning military, related families, and their caregivers. Warren accepted the award with gratitude saying, “Military spouses and returning service members bring unique skills and experience to the civilian workforce. They have learned to work side by side with individuals regardless of race, gender, geographic origin,  ethnic background, religion and economic status. They have the sensitivity to cooperate with many different types of individuals providing employers a competitive advantage globally.”

About Military Spouse Corporate Career Network

The Military Spouse Corporate Career Network is a nonprofit organization that focuses on furthering employment opportunities for military spouses, transitioning military, veterans, war wounded, and caregivers of war wounded. The MSCCN is located all across the country near military bases helping servicemen and their spouses find employment after duty.

About DirectEmployers Association

DirectEmployers Association is a nonprofit HR consortium of leading global employers formed to improve labor market efficiency through the sharing of best practices, research and the development of technology. .JOBS Career Microsites are one of the many technologies that DirectEmployers Association provides to member employers. For more information on DirectEmployers Association, visit http://directemployers.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Nancy Holland, Vice President of Marketing, DirectEmployers Association, +1-317-874-9022, nancy@directemployers.org

The Employment Line, Episode 3: National Mentoring Month

DirectEmployers — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:41:36 +0000

In this episode:

Member, Dennis Smith reflects on culture at St. Jude Medical.

Keeping you connected, with no waiting—The Employment Line. Thank you for watching.

The Employment Line is brought to you by DirectEmployers, a non-profit association of global employers, which provides simple, sophisticated solutions for Human Resources and Recruitment.

New DirectEmployers Team Member to Lead National Disability & Employment Initiative

Nancy Holland — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:41:46 +0000

DirectEmployers Association (DE) would like to formally welcome to the staff, Julie Cook, Operations Manager for the National Labor Exchange (NLX). To many of you, Julie is no stranger. She has actively been working with the Business Development team for the last year to assist in developing what is now taking shape as a national disability and employment initiative for DE Member companies.

Over the next 12-18 months, Julie will be writing a series of blog posts with the intent of helping the compliance, recruiting and human resource professionals in your organization better understand integration of individuals with disabilities into the workplace, creating inclusive environments, building internal capacity, and sourcing prospective candidates in your organization. Her first post, “NPRM for 503: Ready, Set, Go?” is now available in the Pipeline.

Julie comes to us with a diverse background in both the private and public sectors. She has a BA in Political Science from Indiana University and is currently seeking her Master’s in Public Administration from Indiana State University. Julie started her professional career in financial services, obtaining her Series 7 and 63, where she provided portfolio consultation and sales services, business development and SEC compliance oversight. She also has an additional 5 years’ experience in retail management and has insight into the struggles that many companies encounter in the day to day balancing of business and personnel needs.

She entered public employment in the Indiana Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP). There, Julie worked on a variety of initiatives, including policy review and implementation process development, provided communications, oversight of all Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policies and procedures, and creation of the internal governance manual utilized by OMPP staff.

Ultimately, Julie found her passion when she took over direction of a federally funded grant, known as the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG). The MIG was created with the goal of creating infrastructure that removes barriers and increases opportunities to employment for individuals with all types of disabilities. In 2010, she moved from OMPP to the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services (BRS) and worked with the state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program to further the goals of the MIG in Indiana.
Through the MIG, Julie with the BRS and MIG leadership was able to create a five year strategic plan for the state of Indiana to further the goal of increasing employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. The plan focused on four strategic areas in Indiana where the MIG could create actual impact to systems; one of those goals was better engaging the business community in the hiring and advancing of individuals with disabilities in their employment ranks. The MIG supports many business related activities including the Business Leadership Network (BLN), Project Search, and Corporate Development, including a strong relationship with the regional Department of Labor (DOL) staff.

Through this relationship with the DOL, DE was introduced to Julie and decided to bring her on staff to lead both the next generation of the National Labor Exchange, now under us.jobs, and work with Member companies to identify needs, solutions and resources in implementing the proposed changes to Section 503.

Career Microsites Changing How Job Seekers Find Employers

DirectEmployers — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:15:59 +0000

Over 400 of the Fortune 500 Have Launched Career Microsites on the Intuitive .JOBS Internet Top Level Domain

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Large employers are increasingly turning to career microsites to advertise job openings. Over 400 of the Fortune 500 have launched .JOBS Career Microsites, according to DirectEmployers Association, the leading providers of over 1,000 career microsites. Career microsites are highly specialized sites that allow an employer to list jobs targeting specific job seeker searches. Each month, job seekers perform over 200 million searches for jobs using search engines like Google and Bing.

“.JOBS Career Microsites enhance employer recruitment strategies,” according to DirectEmployers’ Executive Director, Bill Warren. “Microsites are more cost effective, put the employer back in control of the hiring process, and allow employers to compete for search position on Google and Bing.” The result is that job seekers can search, click on a result, and apply for the job directly on the employer’s own online application. If the job does not fit, career microsites make it easy for the job seeker to browse or search for a better match.

“Change is the rule for career microsites,” said Warren. “Between changing employer needs, technology innovation and increased government regulation there is need for constant change.” Warren points out, “just in the last year we’ve added veteran specific job search features, a very powerful search engine, and numerous enhancements to make our .JOBS Career Microsites more efficient.”

Early returns show the strategy to be working. In January, Google indexed over 1.5 million web pages for the career microsites created and hosted by DirectEmployers Association. “When doing a highly targeted search on Google for ‘IHG Chef Jobs’ the http://ihg-chef.jobs/ microsite is within the desirable top results,” continues Warren. “Job seekers are then directed to the IHG microsite that displays these jobs.”

Francene Taylor, Director, Resourcing – Americas for IHG also goes straight to the point: “In the six months following implementing our .JOBS Career Microsite strategy, we increased hires by 60% referred by free search engines.”

Companies like AT&T, IBM, Newell Rubbermaid and IHG all have implemented their own highly targeted .JOBS Career Microsites. According to a DirectEmployers Association case study, AT&T has over 70 different career microsites producing thousands of indexed web pages. Each site targets specific job seekers resulting in more highly qualified job applicants.

About DirectEmployers Association
DirectEmployers Association is a nonprofit HR consortium of leading global employers formed to improve labor market efficiency through the sharing of best practices, research and the development of technology. .JOBS Career Microsites are one of the many technologies that DirectEmployers Association makes available to members. For more information on DirectEmployers Association, visit http://directemployers.org.

SOURCE DirectEmployers Association

US.jobs Connects Job Seekers to 90,000 Employers

DirectEmployers — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:28:31 +0000

DirectEmployers Association and The National Association of State Workforce Agencies partner to launch a new National Labor Exchange website using the intuitive .jobs Internet domain.

Indianapolis, IN, January 18, 2012 — DirectEmployers Association in partnership with The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) today announced the transition of the National Labor Exchange from www.JobCentral.com to the appropriately named www.US.jobs. The National Labor Exchange gives job seekers direct access to hundreds of thousands of jobs from companies like Hilton Worldwide, IBM, ConocoPhilips, Newell Rubbermaid, AT&T and over 90,000 other large and small organizations.

All listings on the National Labor Exchange site connect job seekers directly to the employer listing the job. New employment opportunities are added daily with special emphasis placed on veterans, people with disabilities, diversity, and green jobs. Only jobs from legitimate employers can be listed on the National Labor Exchange, therefore, fake job listings or non-employment business opportunities are not allowed on US.jobs.

“State workforce agencies are a critical component in today’s economy because they represent jobs from thousands of small companies that are not found anywhere else on the Internet,” states Chad Sowash, Vice President of DirectEmployers Association.

The move to www.US.jobs is a natural fit in more ways than one. First, it is short, memorable, and describes exactly what the site is, a national database of jobs. Second, the .JOBS extension works much like .EDU or .GOV, a restricted zone where not just anyone can set up shop thus adding to the trust factor that embodies the National Labor Exchange. With nearly every state now participating, the timing for this transition is perfect.

“Since October 2001, DirectEmployers Association has been committed to making the connection between employers and job seekers more efficient, quicker and easier, and US.jobs is the next big step,” stated Rodney Moses, VP of Global Recruitment, Hilton Worldwide and DirectEmployers Board President.

According to Moses, “US.jobs is the pilot for an international roll-out. Understanding how the platform performs and interlinks with states will help us in our future expansion on a global scale. DirectEmployers Association members represent many global organizations and it is important to take our successes from US.jobs and share them across the international workplace.”

About DirectEmployers Association

DirectEmployers Association is a nonprofit HR consortium of leading global employers formed to improve labor market efficiency through the sharing of best practices, research and the development of technology. National Labor Exchange and US.jobs are just two of the many programs designed to help the best employers in the world reach the largest, most diverse pool of quality job seekers worldwide. For more information, visit www.directemployers.org.

About The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA)

The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) is an organization of state administrators of unemployment insurance laws, employment services, training programs, employment statistics and labor market information and other programs and services provided through the publicly-funded state workforce system. For more information, visit www.naswa.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Nancy Holland, Vice President of Marketing, DirectEmployers Association, +1-317-874-9022, nancy@directemployers.org

What Do President Obama, Jon Bon Jovi and DirectEmployers have in Common?

Nancy Holland — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:13:33 +0000

Simone Murray, VP – Member Services and several Members attended the announcement of the Summer Jobs+ initiative at the White House. She kindly agreed to write a guest blog post to share her incredible experience.

We all support Summer Jobs+

Members regroup for a photo at the White House. From left to right: Kelsey White - The SI Organization, Simone Murray - DirectEmployers Association, Eric Airola - J.B. Hunt Transport, Jason Capili - PwC US, Rebel Johnson - Camber Corporation, Brian Jensen - McGraw-Hill, Rich Skelnik - General Dynamics C4 Systems, David Bartlett -CenturyLink (not pictured)

DirectEmployers Association and several of our Members had a unique opportunity to be a part of the Summer Jobs Plus Summit held at the White House last week. The experience still seems so surreal. We had the privilege of being in the same room with the President of the United States… someone pinch me! How did we even get this incredible opportunity, not to mention many of our previous ones like the Social Job Partnership with Facebook, USDOL, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA)?

It boils down to relationships and follow-through. Over the last 10 years we have mushroomed into an Association with 45+ employees, yet we have over 600 + Fortune 1000, Fortune 500 companies who view us as true partners because we value the need for impactful relationships and actually making things happen. Our rapport with Bob Simoneau, Deputy Executive Director and Workforce Development Director at NASWA, led to a connection to Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor. Jane reached out to us last year regarding the Summer Jobs program and we immediately took action and helped spread the word and committed ourselves to hiring youth for summer jobs.

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President Obama surprises guests with his appearance and speaks about the importance of the Summer Jobs+ initiative. Pardon the shaky video and audio - I had to hurry and capture the speech on my cell phone!

The purpose of the January 5th event at the White House was an outreach by the DOL to businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for low-income and disconnected youth in the summer of 2012. The President, who spoke for about 11 wonderful minutes, proposed $1.5 billion for high-impact summer jobs and year-round employment for low-income youth ages 16-24 in the American Jobs Act as part of the Pathways Back to Work fund. How will this happen without government funding? The only suitable way to have sustainable success with such a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG), as one of my favorite authors Jim Collins would say, is by businesses, government and non-profits joining together to formulate a dynamic relationship that will have the greatest impact on our youth today.

My photo with Jon Bon Jovi at the White House.

Yes, it was impressive and historic for me to see the first African American President of the United States and never mind me also taking a few star struck pictures with rocker Jon Bon Jovi. Yet as I sat through the presentations and listened intensely to the young people on the panel who have had a second or a first chance of success through summer internships, I imagined the possibilities of us as an association making a difference of our own. What relationships can we start building and with whom? One young lady shared her experience during the panel discussion moderated by Secretary Arne Duncan and Ben Jealous, CEO NAACP. Her internship at a cancer center programmed in her two underrated words that has stayed with her until this day – “good job.” How did this young lady who was disconnected from the core of today’s society education and employment get to now be a first year student at Penn State University – because someone gave her a chance.

How can we as professionals help young people by encouraging them with simple yet profound words such as “good job?” I came back from the summit and challenged my boss Bill Warren to take on the commitment plus challenge. Yes, we have committed to hiring five youths for the upcoming summer. In addition, how can we as an Association help to foster and nurture the youth around us? I have resolved to take the first step – formulating relationships.

View the full press release for more information.

The Employment Line, Episode 2: White House Visit with President Obama and Jon Bon Jovi, 24 Hour Fitness Makes Headlines, Diversity

DirectEmployers — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:26:52 +0000

In this episode:

Summer Jobs+ announced… and we were there

24 Hour Fitness hiring plans unveiled

2012 Employers Connect dates released

Diversity and inclusion partners recognized

Keeping you connected, with no waiting—The Employment Line. Thank you for watching.

The Employment Line is brought to you by DirectEmployers, a non-profit association of global employers, which provides simple, sophisticated solutions for Human Resources and Recruitment.