2024 Recruitment Resolutions: Setting Goals for Hiring Success

As we step into a brand-new year, brands in fashion, home, and beauty are buzzing with growth potential. For businesses in these exciting industries, setting recruitment goals that match the latest industry trends is key to steering your team toward success.

Setting hiring goals is not just about keeping up with trends—it's about staying one step ahead. Whether you're a brand riding the waves of seasonal changes or a store looking for top-notch talent to give customers an amazing experience, how you hire matters a lot.

First, before thinking about this year’s plans, take time to think about how last year's hiring went. What worked? What didn’t? You can learn from these experiences to help you for the year ahead. Some hiring strategies may have led you to fantastic talent, while others might've missed the mark. These reflections can guide us in making our hiring process better.

Celebrate Diversity in Hiring

Companies thrive when diversity is prioritized, not just in what they offer but also in the folks they bring on board. So, take the proper steps to make your hiring goals diverse too—look for talent from all walks of life. Having a team with different backgrounds and perspectives sparks fresh ideas, creativity, and connects better with a diverse customer base.

Being Flexible is the Name of the Game

Things change all the time, and being flexible is how we stay strong. Your hiring goals should be adaptable—ready to switch gears as new trends pop up. Whether it's adapting to online shopping booms, the focus on sustainability, or changes in what customers want, your hiring plans should roll with it.

Using Tech the Smart Way

Technology is a game-changer in hiring. We can use AI tools and data to find amazing talent and make the hiring process smoother for everyone involved.

At EB, we’re the experts in matching businesses with talented professionals who know how to navigate these industry shifts. We're here to help brands gear up for a successful new year and ensure that both job seekers and brands have a seamless experience. So, join us as we dive into 2024 with these tips in mind. If you have plans to hire this year, we would love to connect with you. It’s never too early to begin strategizing your plans for growth.

References:

• https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/human-resources/recruiting-trends.shtml 

• https://gotoro.io/top-goals-for-recruiters-in-2024/ 

• https://testlify.com/top-recruitment-technology-trends/ 

https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/state%20of%20fashion/2023/the-state-of-fashion-2023-holding-onto-growth-as-global-clouds-gathers-vf.pdf

Now Hiring: Manager of eCommerce & Digital Marketing

We’re #hiring a Manager of eCommerce & Digital Marketing Analytics for a luxury beauty brand in San Francisco. In this role you will be responsible for building out the foundation of the brand’s eCommerce & digital marketing framework. Apply today.

eCommerce for All: Making the Online Experience More Accessible

In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we’re bringing a spotlight on the ways eCommerce can be made more accessible.

Many brands and retailers “miss out on millions of potential customers when they don’t design websites to be accessible to shoppers who use assistive technologies or rely on a keyboard to navigate online.” In fact, 15% of the world’s population experiences some form of disability. According to the Baymard Institute, 94% of the largest eCommerce sites can be challenging or even impossible to navigate for people with disabilities.

More and more people are choosing to shop online. With such a rapidly growing surge of online shoppers, there have been increased demands for brands and retailers to seriously invest into their e-commerce businesses. Such efforts include:

• Diversifying your team

  • The first step toward accessibility, and perhaps the easiest solution “to making sure things actually work really well is [by] hiring a person with a disability.”

• Providing visual alternatives

  • Descriptive alternative texting caters to users with disabilities, especially those with visual impairments. This feature provides accurate and descriptive alternative text for images, form fields, and page descriptions to be read aloud to the user.

• Differentiating links from surrounding text and backgrounds

  • Links are crucial to navigating around a site. By providing descriptive titles and adequate contrast ratios for links, users with disabilities can better navigate the site.

• Enhancing keyboard navigability

  • For users with mobility impairments who rely on a keyboard for site navigation, having all-site functionality operable on a keyboard can be a gamechanger.

At Emerging Blue, we are constantly striving to uphold our commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion with all hiring and employment practices. Our goal is to both embody and coach our clients on creating inclusive environments in which all candidates and employees are treated with respect.

Read more about our DE&I commitment on our About page and on our Blog.

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Articles referenced:

• https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/retail/what-brands-should-know-to-make-their-e-commerce-accessible/

• https://baymard.com/blog/accessibility-benchmark-launch

• https://www.shopify.com/partners/blog/why-and-how-to-improve-ecommerce-website-accessibility

Tapestry Is Increasing DEI Efforts At All Employee Levels

Tapestry is expanding their efforts to create a workplace that prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion at all employee levels. Way to lead by example!👏

Click here to read the full article.

The Rise of Brand Collaborations

With Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga, Adidas for Prada Re-Nylon, and hundreds more, you’ve probably noticed that there are more fashion brand collaborations right now than ever before. Collabs have become so explosive because of their ability to inspire new collections outside of brands’ typical styles, therefore introducing them to new audiences.

For some companies, there are full teams designated solely to creating and developing collaborations. Bay Area giant, Levi Strauss and Co., has an entire design and merchandising team dedicated to collaborations, producing approximately 24 collab collections per year! You can check out all of their collaborations here.

In addition to expanding brands’ reach, collaborations create new energy within brands. Using celebrities and influencers is a common strategy that helps these collabs better target their consumers and create interest at the celebrity level. Check out this brand new Levi’s collaboration with Naomi Osaka, Japanese tennis player, that just dropped a few weeks ago – right at the time of Wimbledon!

When it comes to the job market, collaborations create many new opportunities for jobs. Collabs require a unique, niche set of skills. By widening brands’ reach to new customers, designers, and creatives, collaborations create more opportunity for diversity and inclusiveness in fashion.

The Perfect (out)Fit

One of the top driving factors for success of a retail business is the strength of its internal team, woven-in values, and company culture.

Retail post-pandemic is a new frontier in many respects, one of which has largely been finding great employees and retaining them.

A workplace without a strong company culture can see employee burnout and high turnover, especially in a retail environment. To create the most positive retail experience for your customer, investing in your dream team is a great first step.

The impact of the “great resignation” has hit retail specifically. With the challenge of an increased interest in remote and hybrid work, and a shifting view by perspective employees on what defines “perks of the job,” it is more competitive than ever to be the retail brand that employees commit to joining!

Investing in employees can appear in many ways, most commonly in the form of financial compensation and benefits offered. However, in recent years, there has been a shift in the priorities of employees’ values; this shift being placing a higher value on overall company culture than compensation. According to Business News Daily, “American millennials are more likely to care about work culture over salary (65%) than those age 45 and older (52%).”

To build a retail business where employees feel supported, there must be a compelling mission, goals, and values that are well-defined and implemented into all work practices, most crucially being the hiring and onboarding processes. If hiring managers articulate the company values during the interview process, employees are more likely to understand and reflect those values on the retail floor.

There are three underlying values that are trending as top priority in the retail sector: employee voice, diversity, equity, & inclusion, and sustainable practices.

Company culture extends beyond shared lifestyles and common interests. Employees want to feel heard by their leaders. An insider at Fast Company wrote, “If you look at some of the strongest companies around the world, regardless of industry, a common thread is that leaders in those businesses don’t just dictate. They also get feedback from their teams and consider what workers say.” Retail is a particularly important industry for employees to feel heard, as they serve as the face of the brand and interact with customers in-store, every single day. Likewise, retail employees provide invaluable internal feedback on the day-to-day retail operations.

There is a level of responsibility for company leaders when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In fact, a study found that “more diverse workforces perform better financially compared to those that are less diverse.” It can be challenging to know where to implement these practices. An insider at Forbes suggested, “Start inside and ask your teams what types of training they would find beneficial when it comes to diversity, inclusion and belonging and how they would like to see the company improve its efforts in the months and years to come.” When business leaders engage with their employees and respect their opinions on these sensitive matters, they make their employees feel supported.

These authentic conversations about diversity, equity, & inclusion should always be included during the employee hiring processes. One of our amazing clients, Vans, leads diversity and inclusion in the workplace by great example. We are proud to align ourselves with a brand that has such a strong commitment to providing a diverse and inclusive workplace for their employees. If you haven’t heard of it before, check out their “Off The Wall” mindset that promotes and embraces creativity and self expression.

Vanguards by Vans

Most consumers, including employees of the fashion retail industry, have expectations of sustainable and ethical transparency from fashion retailers. Many employees are seeking opportunities to implement change on a local or global scale. Liv Simpliciano, policy and research manager at Fashion Revolution, said “Transparency is the antidote to greenwashing. Scrutiny might sound like a scary thing [for brands], but it’s actually a capacity-building exercise.” For brands looking to grow their retail businesses, ethical and sustainable transparency, in addition to a positive work culture, is attractive to both employees and customers.

Vuori is a great example of a brand that is actively invests in sustainable practices. In fact, they offset 100% of their carbon emissions to help combat global warming. Not to mention, they’re rated the #1 retailer to work for in Encinitas, CA.

Vuori’s 2021 Footprint. More information about their sustainable efforts can be found here.

If you’re looking to grow your fashion retail business and build a strong team of employees that are the perfect brand-fit, there is much to consider. By having honest conversations with your applicants and digging into what values they’re looking for in a company, you’ll find that you are able to identify the right fit most efficiently. Creating a strong company culture by hiring employees that share a passion for your mission is what will guide your retail business into undeniable success.

Emerging Blue focuses on the brand and the fit, Britt Noyes is our Retail Recruiting Director for Retail with 8+ years of experience in the fashion retail industry. If you’d like to partner with Britt to grow your brand’s retail business or support in finding that perfect brand-fit candidate, reach out to us at info@emergingblue.com.

Now Hiring: Director of People and Culture

We’re still on the hunt for a Director of People & Culture for KREWE! Amazing opportunity to oversee all aspects of human resources practices and processes, including employee relations, performance management, diversity & inclusion, recruiting, retention, learning & development, and HR administration for a fast-growing, independent eyewear company in New Orleans.

Interested in learning more? Click here!

Diversity. Equality. Inclusion.

Emerging Blue, Inc. is committed to diversity, equality, and inclusion with all hiring and employment practices. Our goal is go to create an inclusive environment in which all candidates and employees are treated with respect.

We partner with our clients to create diverse candidate pools, promote equality, and help build positive and inclusive company cultures.

Emerging Blue prohibits discrimination and all forms of applicant and employee harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, military or veteran status, or status in any group protected by state or local law.