Navigating a competitive labor market can be a daunting task. To help you and other hiring stakeholders at your business, we’ve gathered eight invaluable pieces of advice from top HR leaders, CEOs, and career experts.
So, if your talent acquisition strategies intended to hire high-quality candidates need some help, use the below advice to elevate your recruiting and hiring performance and help meet your leadership’s headcount goals.
Reevaluate your job qualifications
When there is limited talent available for a role, you don’t want to eliminate potentially strong candidates for arbitrary reasons —you want to encourage anyone who could thrive in that role to apply. This is why it’s important to think critically about every qualification you list in a job posting or description.
Consider whether each one is actually essential and valuable for the role, and if it’s not shift it into “preferred qualifications” or leave it off entirely. The most common example I can cite is a college degree.
There are some roles where a degree is actually essential (e.g., medical or legal professions). In other fields, however, work experience, certifications, or bootcamps can be an equally viable way to learn the required skills.
Revising your qualifications to focus on the specific skills a candidate needs will make sure you stay open to all your hiring options, rather than limiting your applications before you can even review their resumes.
- Archie Payne, CEO, CalTek Staffing
Focus on upskilling and process optimization
In a competitive labor market, it may be challenging to find candidates with the exact skill set you need. Consider focusing on candidates with transferable skills and a growth mindset.
Implement robust training and development programs to upskill and reskill existing employees, enabling them to take on new responsibilities and fill critical roles within the organization.
Streamline and optimize your recruitment processes to ensure a seamless and efficient experience for candidates. Minimize unnecessary steps, leverage technology for applicant tracking and screening, and maintain clear communication throughout the process.
A smooth and responsive recruitment process can significantly enhance the candidate experience and improve your chances of securing top talent.
- Rejoyce Owusu, Owner and VP of HR, UMATTA CONSULTING LLC
Implement a passive recruiting strategy
You need to look for alternative methods of hiring that can widen your pool of talent without necessarily requiring the adoption of new systems, amid a competitive labor market and disruptive hiring conditions.
For example, passive recruiting is a fantastic strategy done by engaging directly with your ideal potential employees, using rapport building within your network as a means of showcasing your brand and scoping talent.
- Tracey Beveridge, HR Director, Personnel Checks
Speed up interviewing and onboarding
When the hiring market is challenging, it is very important to have a fast interview and onboarding process in order to fill up your vacant positions with top talents. Hence, ensure that the interview and decision-making process is swift, followed by a prompt job offer.
This way, the applicant can sign with the company before he gets another offer. A signing bonus will also encourage the applicant to choose the company. This will help navigate a challenging hiring market.
- Steven Mostyn, Chief Human Resources Officer, Management.org
Zero into successful hiring strategies
Double down on what works to cope with the competitive labor market and ensure you’re able to hire top talent.
In challenging hiring markets, it can be tempting to opt for alternative approaches; however, if you’re struggling and are looking to make hires rapidly then you need to assess what is currently working, and quite simply, do more of that.
- Wendy Makinson, HR Manager, Joloda Hydraroll
Create a positive employment brand impact
Creating great employment brand impact can start with your internal HR or cross-functional team.
Distribute easy-to-customize templates, incentivize article contribution and cross-posting, and get your team to have an authentic presence in the market to promote your company and culture. The combination of all these activities is (ideally) an increase in the number of brand followers.
We are no longer in a space where we can simply manufacture corporate presence.
Employers should invite staff to use the company-paid time to communicate positive messaging, and share stories of impact, and reflections of culture on social outlets. The catch, you have to actually be a positive culture.
- Stacie Baird, Chief People Officer, Community Medical Services
Struggling to adjust to the ongoing competitive labor market? Turn to a leading recruitment process outsourcing firm like NXTTHing RPO to handle your critical recruiting and hiring needs today.
