Magic Bullets to Surviving Thriving in the Midst of the Talent Shortage and “The Great Resignation”:
Installment 3 – Finding the Perfect Match
An article contributed by Karen DiGioia of Herbein | Mosteller HR Solutions
Last week, in installment 2 of our ongoing series, we discussed ways that organizations can and should focus on retaining talent. No matter how strong your employee retention is, there will be times when you will need to recruit.
What can and should you do to improve your ability to bring in new talent? It’s critical to recognize that it’s a candidate’s market right now. COVID-19 resulted in a shift to remote and new ways of work, placing an even greater emphasis on organizational agility. When it comes to recruiting, the crisis accelerated changes in the talent landscape – and now, competition for talent is intense.
Bringing on the right people is more important than ever, so make sure you closely examine your strategy before the competition snaps up the employees you want. Those applicants that you’re seeking to attract have many options in front of them. The more you look at the recruitment process as a “courtship” (be on your best manners, dress your best, bring flowers, you get the idea), the more successful you’ll be.
Here’s a recruitment laundry list to consider:
#1: Have a candidate-centric hiring process.
If your online application process is clunky and cumbersome, candidates will stop mid-stream and apply elsewhere. If you don’t move quickly through the process, another organization will beat you to the finish line. Break your recruiting and selection process down and streamline it to make it as fast, efficient and applicant friendly as possible.
#2: Cast a wide net for candidates
Remote work provides an opportunity to broaden your pool for candidates. If you’ve embraced remote work, make sure you’re taking full advantage of it from a recruiting perspective (and make sure you have an onboarding process in place that is designed for remote employees).
Also, make sure your job requirements are focusing on things that are truly required for the role. Competency-based requirements can be more effective than narrowly defined educational and experience requirements and allow you to look at a larger pool of candidates that developed the needed competencies required in a wide variety of ways rather than via a single, narrow path.
#3: Develop your employer brand
Who are you as an organization? What do you stand for? What are your mission and values? What are your competitive advantages as an employer? In what ways are you visible within your community and to potential candidates? Do employee reviews on Glassdoor and feedback from exit interviews align with the organization’s vision of itself? The more intentional your organization is about these things, the stronger your employer brand will be. This will make it easier for you to reach your candidate pool and will drive many proactively to your door.
While it’s the tip of the iceberg, it should give you a lot to think about and focus on. The next question is: How do you know where to start? Most organizations can’t (and may not need to) do them all.
To figure out where to start – and in addition to listening to your employees – look at the data. By using a data-driven approach using key HR metrics, you’ll see where your greatest opportunities lie. Focus on data relative to retention and recruiting. Additionally, to help determine the inclusiveness of your organization’s culture, it’s appropriate to also focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) data. Make sure you’re tracking key HR metrics like turnover rate, new hire turnover rate, employee satisfaction ratings, internal promotion rate, time to fill, acceptance rate, time to hire, and quality of hire data. Also look at pay gap and pay equity information. Slice and dice your data by department, manager, location, gender, ethnicity, age. See what your data is telling you about your organization’s successes and challenges, and track it over time to see how your results change over time.
While your data will provide valuable data, it is equally important to recognize that each employee is an individual. To whatever degree you can, take a customized approach to recruitment and retention. Each employee has unique needs. While your data may show that the bulk of your workforce will immediately look for other employment if mandated to return to the office, you also have employees who will leave if they are forced to work remotely. Meet your employees and applicants where they are – and don’t assume what they are looking for. Ask. Listen. And, when possible, accommodate.
Without a doubt, organizations face significant challenges to recruit talent. The good news is your organization can do a lot to meet those challenges and thrive during them. Another piece of good news: If you find it overwhelming, you don’t have to go it alone.
Herbein| Mosteller HR Solutions partners with organizations every day and would love to talk with you to explore ways that we can assist. Give us a call at 610-779-3870.
