Good help is hard to find right? For most, the answer is yes. But what if good help was looking for you? Employees are actively seeking employers who cater to their needs, and it is surprisingly easier to differentiate yourself from the competition to land and keep top talent than you might think.
According to a recent survey by CareerBuilder, 84% of workers are willing to take a role outside of their current industry. This means that 84% of workers do not see their current jobs as life-long careers, up from just over 50% according to CareerBuilder in 2019. This sounds like a bad thing for employers, but it can actually work in their favor. If you set yourself apart by actively becoming one of the most desirable places for a person to work, your company will reap the rewards tenfold, holding on to great employees all the while expanding. Here are five ways in which we recommend setting yourself apart to attract and retain top talent:
1: Involve your current employees in recruiting.
As a staffing and recruiting firm, this is one of the first things we advise our clients to do, if they don’t already. Having peers involved and asking questions to any prospects and actually having input in the hiring process is critical. Hiring people that see eye-to-eye with the existing staff ensures a longer tenure for both the existing staff and the new hire. And beyond like-mindedness, a candidate’s peers can more accurately judge their aptitude for the daily tasks required in a position than the hiring manager, in many cases.
2. Offer a sign-on bonus/relocation package.
With this new wave of workers searching for careers in different fields comes a new willingness of workers to relocate, but an incentive always helps. Switching careers isn’t cheap most of the time. Whether it’s having to physically move, or forgo income during the transition period, there is usually a bit of a financial burden on the employee. Anything an employer can do to entice a candidate is welcome, and often results in quicker hires.
3. Have enough people on staff.
No one wakes up on a Monday hoping to get over-worked. While it may seem easy to maximize revenue by minimizing payroll costs, this ultimately backfires. An employee that is getting drowned in work ultimately leaves, so having enough staff on hand to facilitate a manageable workload is paramount. This leads to a more satisfied workforce in it for the long haul.
4. Promote from within.
Whenever possible, look at your existing staff if a more senior role becomes available and promote from there. There are few things that upset an employee more than being passed on for a promotion to an outsider if they truly could have done the role. And it’s astonishing that some employers do not realize this. The best employees are ambitious and need something to look forward to in their careers, and if they don’t see the possibility of advancement in their current settings, then they’ll find somewhere that provides them that opportunity. Obviously, some cases call for an external candidate, but making it a habit to promote from within is wildly important.
5. Know your vision and your values.
A company that doesn’t know who they are walks a path to becoming a company that isn’t known. Having a clear identity and vision of the future helps a company stay on target as they navigate the day-to-day, and the people doing the work need this vision to help steer the company. Finding people that are on board with the mission is key – their work is meaningful. Employees doing meaningful work stay, which breeds growth and naturally attracts like-minded people.
Any employer that utilizes these five techniques among their workforce and talent pool will reap the rewards. They will grow where others stagnate and innovate where others follow, because a company is only as good as its people. And good help is hard to find, right?