This week in HR, we are discussing the recruiting challenges employers face competing for top talent while also navigating the new landscape of employee engagement and retention. Before the pandemic, recruiting for open positions was stressful and time-consuming but it was purposefully engineered to ensure we hired for culture as much as ability. We would get so many resumes in response to our job postings that it was difficult to go through all of them in a timely manner. During and since the big “P”, hiring and recruiting is still stressful, but not in the good way. It’s a good problem to have when there are too many choices, but it’s a painful experience when there aren’t enough.
Have you struggled lately with getting the right talent in the door? Are your recruiting efforts aimed at putting the “right people in the right seats” or is your turnover rate forcing you to quickly fill gaps with the first available option? If you haven’t made some changes in how you source applicants and/or updated your orientation procedure in the past two years, you are likely not experiencing the same success with onboarding new employees as you once were.
As an HR professional, one of my favorite things is the recruiting, hiring, and onboarding process. I get a jolt out of finding the perfect fit for our organization and adding another member to our team. While sharing my personal experience with candidates and new hires, it reminds me again and again of why I love what I do. I enjoy making sure new employees have a positive onboarding experience, from adopting our culture and living our core values to helping guide their growth and development journeys. Reliving the excitement of a new adventure through their experience as they discover all the wonderful things about their new role and new employer, and about themselves, fills me with joy and pride, and gives me a sense of accomplishment and purpose. It feels like I’ve been robbed the past couple of years, though. With fewer resumes to review, I’ve missed the invigoration of the normal fast-paced recruiting and onboarding process. I realized it was necessary to make some changes if we were going to get back to the good problem of too many choices. That got me thinking about how other companies are handling the new employment landscape…
Recruiting is to human resources what marketing is to sales. You must first make consumers (prospects) aware of the amazing product or service (career opportunity), sell them on its benefit to them, and then keep them satisfied with results to ensure repeat buyers/business (retention). Do you have a strategic marketing strategy for hiring top performers in this new world of work?
If your current recruiting efforts do not include reliable and effective tools such as applicant tracking software, electronic employee onboarding, and a robust HCM platform to successfully integrate these features, you’re likely missing out on the opportunity to interview stronger candidates due to the inefficiencies of some outdated methodology and/or processes. Other important factors to consider in your overall process are concise, well-written, job descriptions, competitive compensation offerings, robust and creative employee benefits unique to your organization, and, above all, a company culture that promotes positivity, provides development and growth opportunities, and encourages and acts on employee feedback. These critical objectives among other important organizational characteristics are part of a common thread in the successful management of human capital – they impact every phase from recruiting and onboarding to training, development, engagement, and retention.
At this point, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Where do I start?”. “How do I know if my recruiting and onboarding process is built for success?” Analysis is the best place to start. Compile and review the data you have on hand. Better yet, let us help you. CrescentHR offers support for many HR objectives and can provide a compliant and innovative HR framework to help you achieve your goals. Feel free to contact us at crescenthr@crescent-payroll.com.
Written By: Rema Gray (Human Resource Manager and CrescentHR Advisor)