Roundup: Google Enhances CTS; Restaurants Text for Talent

HR Technology News Screens

Our weekly roundup of deals, product announcements and other news from the HCM technology community.

Google enhanced Cloud Talent Solution, its job search API for job boards and employers. ERE reports the release provides candidates with detailed commute information, so they can estimate how long it will take to walk, bike, drive or ride public transit to work. This differs from previous iterations, which provided distances but didn’t account for local traffic or similar information. In addition, Cloud Talent Solutions now translates results from up to 100 languages, and presents seekers with opportunities in the language they used in their search, in addition to English.

Nexxt announced an integration with Google that will allow its SmartMatch Alert emails to deliver up-to-date job content directly to their Gmail accounts. The job ads users receive are based on the user’s behavior. The content shown in alert emails will be requested at the moment of open, just as it is on Nexxt.com. Support for additional email clients will be added soon.

U.S. restaurant operators are using more technology as they scramble to recruit and retain employees. According to SmartBrief, the number of food-service and restaurant jobs is growing at a pace that may outdistance the labor pool. “The traditional way of trying to hire folks just isn’t working,” one executive said. Golden Gate Bell, which operates 80 Taco Bell franchises in San Francisco, now sends candidates text messages with links to its career page. Meanwhile, McDonald’s has begun using writing platform Textio to create more job posts and emails using more inclusive language. 

Indeed now offers candidates the opportunity to take on-demand skills assessments and add the results to their resume. Seekers with Indeed account can take any of more than 50 pre-built assessments that touch a variety of industries including administration, customer service, technology and sales. Once they’ve completed an assessment, users can choose to either shares the results on their resume, or hide them. Indeed said the feature will help hiring managers more easily identify candidates whose skills align with their open roles.

Glint, the engagement firm recently acquired by LinkedIn, launched three features to help managers effectively lead their teams.  These new features are designed to eliminate manual analysis, automatically find patterns and identify the most significant areas of opportunity for managers to use in engaging their teams. Manager Concierge provides users with step-by-step guidance based in part on the evaluation of previous actions. An actionable summary of strengths and opportunities helps leverage a user’s most promising management skills. A three-step framework guides managers through the process of acting on employee feedback.

TMP Worldwide launched TalentBrew Self Service 2.0. The platform will give users expanded capabilities to manage their candidate-facing career web site, the company said. TalentBrew Self Service allows users to edit key elements of their site, including images, videos and job lists. In addition, they can add new pages to support specific recruitment marketing purposes, serving as targeted content and landing pages to support different traffic driving strategies. “With TalentBrew Self Service, we’ve found an important balance between streamlining deployment of the candidate attraction and education process, while still protecting our clients’ employment brands,” said Matt Lamphear, TMP’s executive vice president of digital strategy.

ADP said its mobile app now has more than 20 million registered users and has an average growth rate of 500,000 new users per month. The ADP Mobile Solutions App is available in 27 languages, and has been accessed from more than 140 countries. On average, individuals use the app at least 10 times per month, ADP said.

Mursion, a startup that provides virtual reality training for workplace skills, today announced an $8 million Series A round, led by New Markets Venture Partners. Mursion, which said it has more than 150 customers, aims to improve emotional intelligence and reduce unconscious bias. “VR enables us to create a safe, anonymous space to practice difficult conversations,” said CEO Mark Atkinson. “Learners experience emotional ‘danger’ and stress, but they do so within the safety and anonymity of the simulation.”

Branch, which develops scheduling and financial tools for hourly workers, joined the Kronos Workforce Dimensions Technology Partner Network. Branches newest product is Pay, which allows enterprise employees to access earnings and budgeting tools. It also offers a Communication feature that helps companies engage hourly employees through custom channels and social feeds, and Shift Flexibility, which helps enterprises scale labor up and down in real-time.

Cultural analytics firm Temporall released Culture Workbench, a real-time culture analytics platform that enables organizations to continuously measure their culture through an integrated toolkit. The company also announced partnerships with Slack, Workplace by Facebook and Google Cloud to incorporate its technology into existing tools.

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