Simpler Solutions to the 5 Most Common Recruiting Challenges
Unless you are working with some of the most sought-after companies for employment, you probably face the same issues every other recruiting professional face. Especially in a time of continued shortage of talent, recruitment can sometimes feel like a uphill battle but if you know how to handle some of the toughest situations smartly you can continue enjoying a smoother ride.
Here are some of the common recruiting issues along with their simple fixes.
Candidates are harder to find
Leave aside talent shortage, Candidate attraction has become a lot more difficult compared to early days when promoting “we are hiring” messages on LinkedIn or Facebook and conducting Job fairs were enough to attract sufficient candidates.
Times have changed now. Candidates prefer interacting and working with companies they know very well and can trust. Having strong digital presence helps big time. Find Creative ways to Publish and promote your job advertisements.
Another way to find the best talent is to find them internally. Taking the pain to train the hard-working and dedicated employee from within the company has its own merits. It helps you boost the employee morale by sending a strong signal about your intentions to invest in employee development along with other benefits.
Candidates are under-qualified
If you keep complaining about receiving plenty of under-qualified applications most of the time, know that you are not alone. The Job Preparedness Study done by the Career Advisory Board – USA, revealed that only 17% of employers find perfectly qualified candidates with the appropriate skills they need to fill the positions. Rest of them have to hire resources and train them for the job they are hiring for.
Wait, Are you thinking – Can I be into that 17%? Well, You Can! But not until you get rid of those lackluster job descriptions you keep promoting everyday. Check your Job descriptions. Are they designed to help candidates visualize the job by highlighting day-to-day tasks which s/he needs to perform to succeed at it or are they just full of industrial jargon enlisting just the skills/qualifications candidates must possess? Consider taking help of the concerned internal departments while drafting the job descriptions focused on easy comprehensibility for the candidates.
Candidates' Interest fades faster
Everyone who's been in recruitment knows the pain of extending job offers to candidates only to find out that they have accepted another. Or worse, they are no longer interested in your offer.
Like every other industry, In Recruitment too, bad or poor candidate experience can ruin your chances at closing the deal with bright candidates. Take a moment to introspect and map the hiring experience at your organization. Examine the process starting from when the candidates hears about the job till the offer is released. Is your interview process too lengthy? Do you have a mechanism in place to provide timely updates to the candidates? If your time to interview and offer are too separated in time, candidates might lose interest. Re-think your hiring cycle with the goal of improving candidate experience.
Candidates are not happy with just a paycheck
Offering competitive salary is not enough to attract the top talent. It is the ability to offer engaging and appealing environment that helps in hunting the top talent down.
Employee perks is what motivates the current generation of job-seekers the most. Health benefits, Flexible work schedules and employee developmental initiatives are some of the things that makes your workplace seem attractive and enriching to the candidates. Being innovative on this front can put you significantly ahead of your competition.
Candidates dislike your company
In the super-connected era of Social networks, How you treat your employees is no longer a secret. Candidates know it if you had laid off your employees in recent past, They know it if you happen to be involved in some press-controversy or when you have had cuts in compensation recently.
With the advent of newer technologies, your employer Brand has become the most fragile and even more worthy asset that you must preserve with utmost care. If any damage has happened to your Brand, repairing it should be the top priority if you want the top talent to consider your company for employment.
Conducting employee surveys or providing open forum for employees to share their feedback about the employer and various policies can help you be on top of your employee morale and engagement. A simple Thumb-rule for Success for the HR or Recruitment Teams is – See everything from the employee's perspective.
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I regularly write about Recruiting and Management related Issues and Trends on LinkedIn. Follow My Posts @ LinkedIn
Here are some of my other posts you will Like:
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8 Strong Reasons you should Hire for Potential, Not Experience
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