It’s certainly been a tough year for hiring, and with the current competitive job market, you may feel like pulling out your hair. Attracting and retaining quality talent doesn’t have to be a “war,” as some have referred to it lately. Tweaking your hiring approach can streamline your process and make a major impact. You’ll thank us when you’re actually able to take that vacation this summer.
Problem: You’re not getting many applicants.
If candidates aren’t knocking at your door, the best way to solve this is through skills-based hiring - attracting candidates based on their skills instead of their experience or schooling. In your job posting, de-prioritize or reframe requirements based on degree or job title. Instead, emphasize the skills you are looking for. Need someone to simmer down disgruntled customers? A former flight attendant might just fit your call center role. They may have skills such as customer relations, problem solving and, well, the list goes on for those multi-taskers. Consider what an applicant can do, not just what they have done. Prioritizing skills and lessening the importance of explicit experience or degrees can help a candidate see themselves in that role – and maybe apply.
Another great thing about skills-based hiring is it can help you attract a more diverse pool of candidates with all kinds of backgrounds.
If you've mastered skills-based hiring, consider targeted emails that reach candidates who have shown interest and applied before. Those in your talent pool are much more likely to apply again.
Problem: You’re getting a ton of applicants, but not the *right* ones – yet.
Focusing on skills can absolutely attract workers from other industries who can do the job better than those who have previously held the job title you’re seeking. Also, consider this: Working from home has become a part of the office dynamic over these last 14-plus months. And many workers don’t want to fully go back to the way things were. A recent CareerBuilder survey of workers reveals that a third of job seekers have applied for a job outside of their geographic location with the expectation that they could work from home. “The organizations that get this right will win the war (for) talent.” That’s what the SVP of workplace experience at Humana said at a recent discussion on the post-pandemic workplace. Again, it doesn’t have to be a war, but by simply adding "work from home” or “remote” to your job posting (or selecting the work from home option), you can attract more applicants, including the most sought-after ones. If a fully remote situation doesn’t work for your business, consider a hybrid model or think of other creative ways to promote flexible schedules and wellness. Here’s more on how working from home can benefit the workplace.
Problem: You’re short on time.
Maybe you’re getting a ton of great applicants – look at you go! – but you don’t have time to sift through the resumes piling up in your inbox and consider best matches for the team. These days, there’s really no reason to get bogged down by all the tasks a robot can do.
And, not to stress you out even more, but if you don’t make the experience smooth for candidates, they could drop off at any point, either because it’s too complicated or another company snatched them up before you could make an offer. Automation helps with everything from writing job postings to identifying the top applicants to emailing them during the hiring process.
Let technology work for you, so that you have more bandwidth to thoughtfully -- and quickly -- interview and onboard your new employees.
Problem: You're stretched for resources to attract and hire the talent you need.
If money is your biggest stressor, consider what the open position is costing you. This all connects back to optimizing your recruiting efforts through focusing on skills, enticing candidates with benefits and leaning on technology.
Be honest with yourself on what you’re capable of tackling on your own. Then, think about which tools would give you the most mileage.
Would it help you to not have to write another job posting? Or maybe you would rather automate the selection process. It can be an investment to hire talent that will grow your company, but if you focus on reducing the time it takes and expanding your pool of quality candidates, you will actually see savings in the long run.
Hiring doesn’t have to be stressful. By tweaking your approach, you can catch up and even get ahead – no hair-pulling necessary.
