When you are in charge of your company’s operations, especially for industries that rely heavily on non-exempt workers, you often have tunnel vision. You concentrate on things like your product’s cost-per-unit, on-time delivery, and how to effectively produce a high-quality product. You focus on output, not people. You have a workforce in place, but often, you don’t consider how you acquired them.
That mentality is not effective in the modern workplace. Did you know that hiring and training a new employee can cost up to 40 percent of their annual pay? And, because you aren’t taking the time to research pay rates properly, you’re likely paying an average of $4 more an hour, per employee, based on your location.
If this is all news to you, you may want to consider concentrating more on your hiring process. Finding employees is more strategic and data-driven than ever. If you are not effectively investing in talent acquisition, you will steadily see your candidate pool move over to your competitors.
4 Keys to Build a Hiring Strategy that Really Works
But overhauling your hiring strategy seems like a lot of work. How do you even know where to begin? Here are some professional tips to help you get the most out of your hiring process.
Have the Right Resources in Place
I know you are thinking this is not something I need to worry about, that’s what Human Resources is for. However, your HR representative is also often focused day-to-day on taking care of employee conflicts, benefits, employee engagement, and payroll. If they are stretching themselves too thin, then it may be beneficial to start thinking about putting a talent acquisition team in place.
A good talent acquisition team utilizes hiring data to strategically source the best candidates, quickly. This includes data-driven candidate research, knowing how to write good job descriptions, reporting, process mapping, and compliance. This will, in the long run, decrease your turnover and save you valuable time and resources to train candidates who truly are a good fit for your team.
Engage Your Employees
Don’t make your employees feel like they are lucky to have a job. Make them feel like they are lucky to have THIS job. According to LinkedIn, 59 percent of talent leaders are investing more in strategies to help boost their reputation as an employer. The value of being an “Employer of Choice” in your industry is more important now than ever.
According to LinkedIn, 59 percent of talent leaders are investing more in strategies to help boost their reputation as an employer.
One of the first steps you can take in improving your reputation is actively engaging your workforce. You need to make sure they become your company’s biggest advocates. According to a study by Boston College, many organizations do not know what goes on in the hearts and minds of as much as 60 percent of their workforce. That means more than half of its employees may be unhappy in their current jobs.
Take the time to understand them. Engaging your employees is as easy as taking the opportunity to listen to them. Some simple changes you can make now include:
- Reward systems that give them recognition for things that they have earned. This gives them pride in their work and owning their accomplishments.
- You can also take steps to make sure that they feel comfortable talking to management about what they do. They are the heart of the day-to-day operations, and they may have ideas about process improvements that are beneficial.
- Let them be heard without having the pressure of taking on the execution of those processes. If they feel a part of the business, they are more likely to take pride in their work and in the company; which in turn will benefit you with reduced turnover rates.
If you take small steps to understand and acknowledge their voices, they are less likely to go work for your competitor.
Understand What’s Happening in the Marketplace
Does your HR team have the time and technology to fully research the workforce you are trying to bring into your company? It’s important to be data-driven and strategic in evaluating the workforce you are trying to recruit. You can run reports through sites like CareerBuilder that help you understand the job demand trends by industry and geography, which can then help your company make better decisions in the hiring process.
Also, think about utilizing your budget in the best ways possible to post your positions. Sometimes, you need to think outside of the box to where your workforce is looking every day. For non-exempt positions, they may be using sites like Craigslist or Facebook, as opposed to LinkedIn. If you can boil down your strategies and track the hiring data to see if those strategies are working, you can save money by choosing the most effective hiring methods to invest in.
Know What the Right Candidate Looks Like
The right candidate isn’t as cut and dry as someone who applies to your job posting. According to Glassdoor, 84 percent of candidates would consider leaving their current company, but aren’t actively looking. Are you on the radar of these passive candidates? How can you find these passive candidates if you aren’t fully researching and understanding what your ideal worker is?
A great first step in gaining some better knowledge of your ideal candidates is as simple as looking at your top performers. Where did you find them? Why did they stay? If you want to get more like them, do you have a good referral program set up so they can bring like-minded candidates to your company?
Identifying top performers is the first step in understanding that ideal talent pool. Next, if you haven’t already, track and analyze whatever data you can find on your current hiring process. That will help give you a full understanding of what your hiring strategy is today.
From there, you can delve into research websites like the American Staffing Association or HRO Today to compare how your current strategies measure against trends in modern staffing. This will help you gain a broader understanding of what you need to do better.
These keys are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding and optimizing your hiring strategy. It can seem a little overwhelming at first, but taking baby steps in the right direction can help you bring in the workforce you need and nurture them to remain with you. You will see a difference in the way your company runs, and of course, the way your bottom line reads.