Morgan Phelps

Welcome To Eloma Episode 25: Hiring for Small Business Post-Pandemic with Morgan Phelps

“It first starts with understanding what success looks like for the position that you’re hiring for and having everything come from that,” explains Morgan Phelps, Founder and CEO of Colorful Connections, a diversity recruiting and retention firm. Today, she joins host Kiley Peters to discuss the best practices small businesses should use when hiring in these post-pandemic times. 

A business can only grow and succeed when it can not only attract talent, but also retain it. Post-pandemic, there has been a shift in what the average employee is looking for and many people are shifting careers. Many employees are looking to work for companies that reflect their values and now, there is more emphasis on inclusion and diversity than there was pre-pandemic. To attract and retain the best people for the job, it is necessary to focus on communication, even down to the base level of your company’s branding. If your branding does not reflect diversity, that could turn people off from even applying. To tap into the potential new talent, it’s important to not only look at checking off boxes, but to really think about what is needed to be successful in the position you are looking to fill. 

Continual evolution is a requirement for growth. Hiring today cannot be done the same way it was handled pre-pandemic because people’s priorities have shifted. Tune into this week’s episode of Welcome to Eloma for a conversation with Morgan Phelps about best practices for hiring. Learn the most effective ways of increasing your company’s overall diversity to foster feelings of inclusion so that once you hire great talent, you’ll be able to retain it long term.

Highlights:

• “Your communication, even from a branding perspective, is where you might need to start in the first place.” (15:41-15:51 | Morgan)
• “I will look for someone who has certain types of traits versus filling in and checking off the box of ‘here are the things I specifically need.’ Yes, those are important, but look ahead knowing that that will change.” (19:25-19:41 | Morgan)
• “It first starts with understanding what success looks like for the position that you’re hiring for and having everything come from that.” (21:15-21:24 | Morgan)
• “If you’re only looking at it from a singular perspective of race and race being your indicator of diversity, you’re missing a lot. And you’re also missing a lot in terms of strategic value that that person and that candidate can bring to a role and the purpose.” (27:44-28:00 | Morgan)
• “Get used to having problems and looking at them differently as learning opportunities.” (36:30-36:35 | Morgan)

Listen
Apple Podcasts – Spotify – Google Podcasts – YouTube

Connect with Morgan
Website | https://www.colorfulconnections.com/team
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganlphelps/

Connect with Welcome to Eloma
Instagram: @WelcometoEloma
Website: WelcometoEloma.com
Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Kiley
Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters
Websites: RAYNEIX.com, BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com
Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail
Email: info@rayneix.com

Morgan Phelp’s Bio

Morgan Phelps is the Founder and CEO of Colorful Connections, a social enterprise that helps leaders create inclusive workplace cultures, while supporting the advancement of the underrepresented and underestimated. As a diversity recruiting and retention firm, Colorful Connections provides tailored solutions that create long-standing results in the workplace and supports talent attraction, retention and growth. Morgan also teaches Corporate Social Responsibility and Diversity in Organizations at Marquette University.

Colorful Connections provides long-lasting solutions for employers who are invested in creating diverse and inclusive teams (such as talent placement services and cultural competency workshops). Colorful Connections also helps underestimated professionals secure promising careers, doing what they love with organizations committed to diversity and inclusion.

Beyond serving as a change agent for diversity and inclusion, Morgan has more than 15 years of experience working as a PR and Communications Specialist. A Chicago native, Morgan graduated with a MSJ from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and a B.S. in African-American Studies, Theater and Politics from Oberlin College in Ohio. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc and TEMPO Milwaukee.