According to CareerBuilder research, retailers are ramping up for a busy hiring season.
Twenty-seven percent of employers in retail plan to hire contract or temporary workers in the second half of 2017, while 50 percent expect to hire full-time, permanent employees in the back half of the year.
However, many retailers struggle to fill their open positions, no matter the time of year. Thirty-seven percent of retail employers currently have positions at their organizations that, on average, stay open for 12 weeks or longer.
And as we all know, the longer it takes to fill a position, the more time and resources are spent; resources that could be put toward other requisitions or recruiting priorities. But, by building a robust retail recruitment strategy, you can find better candidates and close the time to hire gap.
Here are four ways to do just that:
1. Use Data to Inform Your Strategy
How many job seekers are actively looking for a retail position in your area? How many other companies are posting for similar jobs? What are your competitors paying their workers? These are the types of questions you should ask yourself – and answer with supply and demand data – before you start recruiting. Arming yourself with this information allows you to be more intelligent about your recruitment strategy and get a leg up on competitors.
2. Be Proactive in Your Search
The best candidate for your position may be one that’s already in your resume database. Since these candidates have expressed interest in being contacted by recruiters, they’re more likely to respond – and at a faster rate. Also, by using Boolean and semantic methods to search your database, you can more easily zero in on the right candidates. There are also tools available that allow you access beyond your own database to public web profiles, widening your pool of relevant talent.
3. Get the Word Out – the Right Way
In the retail industry, job postings are usually a no-brainer. But just because they’re par for the course doesn’t mean you should treat them that way. Spend time crafting a compelling posting that illustrates why your position is superior to your competitors’. Also, make sure to optimize your advertisement to ensure it gets ranked high in search engines – and gets noticed more quickly by candidates.
4. Take Advantage of a Talent Network
According to prior CareerBuilder research, nearly 3 out of 5 candidates working in the retail industry say that after reading a job posting they will spend more time doing research before applying. They may not be ready to pull the trigger just yet, but you can still capture their information via a talent network – and keep them engaged until they’re ready to apply. By continuously delivering new, relevant positions to your candidate pipeline, it ups their chances of finding the right opportunity – and it ups your chances of filling your retail positions faster.
Get data to inform your retail recruitment strategy, and find more tips for speeding up time to hire.
