Recruiting Help – The Shift to an Employee’s Market

As the economy begins to recover and more jobs become available, an employee shortage might start to rear it’s ugly little head into recruiting and retaining employees.

Here are a few ideas and tips that you might want to incorporate into your hiring practices and options in retaining those employees that might have been recruited right underneath you.

• Offer more flexible work programs (job sharing, flexible hours, working from home). These types of options are attractive to the younger workforce, working mothers, students, and interns that might expand your range of applicants.
• Provide OTJ (on-the-job) training and also off-site training to your current workforce (tuition reimbursement, seminars, conferences, certification training). It goes a long way to show employees that you, as a company, are interested in their future with your organization and you want to invest in that future. Hopefully that investment will provide returns in loyalty.
• Prepare job descriptions that accurately describe what jobs you are recruiting for.
• Provide incentives for employees that actively recruit for your open positions.
• Offer accommodations for older employees and employees that have disabilities.
• Outsource or hire a social media expert to brand your name, company and open positions.
• Partner with local trade schools, universities, colleges, and high schools to participate in job fairs, internships, and job shadowing programs.
• Actively engage current employees with your company mission statement, where you are headed as a company, and how your current staff can help the company get there. Understanding where the company is headed is crucial in retaining employees that are looking for a career; not just a job.
• Review your current hiring policies and your current employee handbook. Make sure you are abiding by all the laws, rules, and regulations to ensure they are legal and ethical.
• Review your current employee benefits package. One size does not fit all. Be creative and create programs and incentives to capture the workforce you’re looking to implement (as long as it’s not discriminatory).
• Provide training for current managers and supervisors on diversity, harassment, discipline, and cultural awareness. This will help in retention as well.

Traditional hiring practices of looking at a newspaper advertisement for an 8am to 5pm job has vanished for the internet based job search for a job that will accommodate a working mom that telecommutes. Or an MBA student that needs on the job training. Or a veteran that would like to continue working, but maybe in a part time scenario. Organizations that expand their searches and allow for adjustments will find employees that work and fit their organization, if they just get a little creative.

Solution Services offers help in recruiting and retention plans for all types of businesses. Allow us to relieve some of the burden that recruiting can place on an organization by giving us a call today. We are happy to help start the process and work together for a plan that can help you right away!