Recruiting Reality Check

In our February eNewsletter, a question was posed that we (and the rest of the staffing industry) have been running into a lot lately:

[Several clients] want to compare top candidates before making a [hiring] decision. We’re losing great candidates because it’s taking too long to find more candidates to compare. How do I help them understand we need to move smarter and faster?

With such a small labor pool right now, it is extremely difficult to find qualified candidates, so when you find one, there is nothing more frustrating than losing that person to another job because the client took too long to make a hiring decision. As recruiters, we are spending more time than ever before identifying and attracting viable candidates. When we do find viable candidates, the ability for hiring managers to make quick, astute decisions and move through the selection process quickly is crucial to retaining that candidate.

So how do you explain the reality of today’s labor market to your business clients? This is what Strategic Human Resources, Inc. has to say:

Ask them to recall how they approached house hunting, which often goes like this:

Step 1 – You go into the house with a huge list of ‘must haves’ that you simply cannot live without – just as we do when recruiting for an open position.

Step 2 – You see the houses currently available on the market, which may not be nearly as many as you hoped for, nor do they have all of your desired features. (Where are the granite countertops and hardwood floors?)

Step 3 – You do a bit of soul searching to refine and prioritize your ‘must haves’ list to identity what’s truly most important to you and determine what you’re willing to live without or change/update yourself. (Everybody likes a DIY project, right?)

Step 4 – Act fast and call in your offer immediately before someone else snatches up your next soon-to-be dream house! (You’ve learned this because it happened with the last two houses you tried to buy but took too long to decide upon and lost them to other buyers. Meanwhile, those other savvy buyers are already hosting their new housewarming parties!)

If you apply the lessons learned during the house hunting experience to your recruiting and selection process, you know you need to:

• Be accurate in defining the role you’re looking to fill and the ‘must haves’ versus ‘nice to haves.’ Make sure your job descriptions are up to date, too.
• Asses the current pool of potential candidates and connect with them quickly.
• Readjust expectations and ‘must haves’ if the labor market doesn’t meet all of your criteria. Determine critical skills needed to start, and what could possibly be trained.
• Move fast on strong candidates, even if you don’t have several to compare. Don’t let your desire to shop around cause you to lose a great potential employee.
• Celebrate knowing that you did your homework, understood the market, and made a smart, fast new hire!

Read the full article here.