Why is it so difficult to find good employees to hire? There are many talented professionals in the job market and industries are humming. However, the workforce itself is shrinking fast. The “Gray Tsunami” of retiring boomers, smaller generational sizes, increase in independent work, and a disconnect between hiring policies and workforce availability have led to many companies struggling to attract and hire the talent they need. We are looking at the biggest labor shortage of our generation. In order to hire effectively, it’s time to adapt your strategies to cast a wider net, open your mind to new qualifications, and truly value the skilled candidates who apply for each job.
Let’s talk about the competitive strategies your company can use to find your next great hires.
Treat Candidates Like Customers
Valuable candidates should be respected and attracted in a similar way to attracting customers. Their time is valuable and their job hunting process is just as important as your hiring procedures. Instead of endless interviews or months of radio silence, create a conversion funnel that helps candidates get excited about your job opportunities and keeps even those unselected in the pipeline for future roles. Every talented professional is valuable, and creating good hiring experiences is the best way to ensure your top candidates stick around for the offer, apply again for a future role, and tell their colleagues that you’re a good company to work for.
Optimize Your Job Descriptions
Make sure your job descriptions are detailed, informative, and attractive. Give the most important information first: The location, pay scale, and job duties. These help candidates quickly determine if they could be right for the role. Then dive into the company culture and benefits.
Clearly define each role and give candidates a mental picture of what it will be like to step into the position. Respect their time with the order and structure of your information, then draw them in with the details that make the job more appealing.
Implement an Employee Referral Program
Professionals tend to know other professionals in their industry. This makes an employee referral program extremely valuable. Just as recruiters have the main line on jobs as they become available, your employees may have access to other specialists in their field at the beginning of their job search. By implementing an employee referral program, you can gain access to top talent as soon as they begin job hunting. At the same time, your employees are also the most likely to know if a friend or colleague is likely to fit well into the work environment, increasing the chance of a quick and easy onboarding for referred hires.
Train the Skills You Need
The world of business credentials is changing. College degrees are less prominant and with the gray wave, the workforce is balancing toward younger professionals. Instead of requesting degrees and several years of experience, be prepared to train for the skills you need. You can gain access to bright, talented, and ambitious workers who would normally be blocked out of your hiring process by too-strict credential requirements.
Building an internal training pipeline also allows you to train specialists and leaders within your current staff. This increases the value of your employees, boosts engagement through professional development, and makes room in the lower tiers for bright new hires ready to be trained.
Reach Out with Social Media
Social media allows you to share job postings with a wider audience instead of limiting your access through closed-system recruitment networks and job boards. Post your job listings online with your company’s wider community and use the right tags to attract job seeker attention in your industry. Spark conversations, get to know candidates as they express interest, and enhance your job postings with photos, videos, and other media that normally isn’t present in a job board posting.
Using your social media accounts, you can advertise jobs, the company, and your company culture all at the same time while inviting candidates to engage directly with the hiring team.
Align Company Branding with Mission and Values
The way you brand your company should align with the mission and values stated in job descriptions. Candidates are more likely to trust a cohesive brand where they understand how their work will contribute to the purpose of the company, both internally and externally. You can also explain how the mission and values relate to a specific aspect of the company’s brand, such as focusing on a specific product or the goals of particular department.
Consider Past Candidates
Keep past candidates in the network. Skilled talent in your industry is always valuable. Just because a candidate wasn’t the top pick for one role doesn’t mean they’re not the best person for another position. Each application should be considered a direct connection to valuable talent. Consider all the CVs you’ve received in the past year for each role, and don’t hesitate to reach out if a previous candidate seems perfect for a position that has opened up.
Past employees returning from adventures in other parts of the industry can also be worthwhile to re-hire.
Utilize isolved’s Attract + Hire by Platinum Group
Access a comprehensive hiring service with isolved’s Attract + Hire service, offered by Platinum Group. We provide the software and the network you need to attract and connect with top talent in your industry. No matter what roles you are hiring for, Attract + Hire can help you hone your employer branding, analyze your recruiting success, connect through mobile and social media, automate recruiting, and digitally empower your hiring process.
Host Industry-Related Events
Grow your network of professionals and specialists by becoming a well-known host for industry events. Some brands host galas, conventions, and summits every year that involve professionals from across the industry and sometimes bring in new faces from all over the world. You can connect with potential new hires, earn referrals, and build your employer reputation to more effectively recruit with each consecutive year.
Partner with Local Universities and Community/Trade Colleges;
Build a direct school-to-hire recruiting program. Partner with local universities, community colleges, trade schools, and job training centers to gain direct access to newly skilled professionals as they are minted from the education system. You will ease their introduction to the industry and quickly gain access to qualified candidates as they receive their qualifications.
Adopt a Career Pathing Framework
Career pathing is the process of ensuring there is a promotion and professional growth path for all employee positions in your company. Upward mobility is the key to long-term loyal employees who become more valuable and highly positioned over time. Career pathing also attracts new hires who want to achieve upward mobility; learning, growing, and rising in rank without having to job-hop for every promotion. We can help you build your career pathing framework to the great satisfaction of both current and newly hired employees.
Recruiting with Platinum Group
isolved People Cloud, offered by Platinum Group is a powerful HCM system designed to help your company optimize and uplift your workforce. The Attract + Hire system is the first step toward building your ideal workforce in today’s challenging recruitment environment. Career pathing is a powerful strategy for employee engagement, attracting talent, and building a formidable workforce of advanced skills and professional acclaim. We can help you build your team and paths to success from the ground up.
If you are interested in learning more about us and our isolved platform, we invite you to visit our website or schedule a demo. We are eager to understand your unique business needs and provide you with our human capital management solutions to help you streamline your operations and achieve success.