Now Hiring!?@#*&%!

Whereare all the good people? 

Ischeduled 8 interviews this week and only 2 showed up – what gives?

Whydoesn’t anyone want to work?

Thesedamn millennials…

Whydoes every person I hire have some kind of serious emotional problem?

Ifonly I could solve the current struggle for talent…I would be one happy HRconsultant.  I feel for my clients and Ireally wish I could bring them a strong solution to their recruiting woes. 

Ido have a suggestion – would it be beneficial for an organization such as SHRMto conduct a national study of people aged 15-25 (Gen Z) in order to find outwhere their thoughts are with regards to their future careers, what type ofopportunities they are looking for, etc.? Repeat every 5 years to gauge changes and trends.  I would love to know what that generationwants and how today’s employers can prepare for them. 

WhileI may not have all of the answers, I do have a few suggestions for employers andHR leaders looking to improve their talent acquisition –

Christie’sTop 5 Tips for Enhancing Recruitment in 2019:

5.Self-reflect

Whoare we as an organization?  What are ourstrengths and weaknesses?  Why wouldsomeone want to work here?  What do weoffer that our competitors don’t?  Why doour current employees stay?  Why doemployees leave?  Take the time to askand answer the tough questions.  You haveto know who you are and what you offer in order to attract and retain toptalent. 

4.Develop a strategy

It’smore than just post and pray, folks. Where, how, and what you post to advertise a job opening matters.  Use mediums that work for your industry.  While online job boards and social media areincredibly popular and effective, they are not the only answers to help solveyour recruitment problems.  There’s a lotto be said for networking, holding on-site open house events, and buildingrelationships with local schools. 

3.Create an employee referral program

Thinkabout the top 1 or 2 employees in your organization.  Would you clone them if you could?  Offer bonuses to employees who refer newhires and you just might.  When someoneloves their work, they will ask others they know to join them.  Your current employees may also be the bestevaluators for fit; they know if someone is going to work well or not.  The program does not have to be expensive andmay have a better return on investment than some online job postings.

2.Consider non-traditional candidate pools

Companies across the country are finding great employees from candidate pools that have traditionally gone untapped – those previously incarcerated, those from Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories, and our military veterans.  The number of success stories from organizations utilizing these populations are tremendous – these new employees are often said to be the best performers and have the most positive attitudes. 

1. Put your job posting through several drafts

Visit any online job board, search for‘customer service’, and marvel at the wide variety of job ads you see.  The number of different titles alone isbaffling.  Some postings are long, someare short.  There are ads that givecompany history information, a listing of benefits, and social mediahandles.  Other ads don’t even mentionthe name of the company.