Saīd Eastman
July 22, 2019
Business Resources
How to bulletproof your company in the battle for talent in all labor markets
By Saïd Eastman
After months of crisscrossing the state of Maine speaking with employers as they highlighted the biggest challenges they face — from lack of connectivity, transportation, infrastructure, high taxes, endless regulation, hard-to-get financing and housing shortages — the biggest issue for all was attracting and sourcing workforce.
Business owners and stakeholders own some of the work to solve their workforce challenges. We can all agree that the state has some accountability on a macro level for the state’s brand, attracting new industries, building the future labor pool and the overall stability of the state’s economy. Those factors create projects and draw people to the state. After 25 years in this business, I have seen companies of all sizes ride the employment-market roller coaster through many economic and political events. How they managed that ride is key.
If we start with the premise that turnover and attrition are inevitable, why are we always reacting to the need for talent instead of being ahead of it? This has to do with how we address the need to recruit. We all believe that when someone leaves, we put an ad in social media and on job boards and the candidates will flock to the ad. In reality, that’s only for a few well-known employer brands.
A reason to apply
Before you start using recruitment marketing you should have a reason for these candidates to apply. According to Gartner’s Global Talent Monitor, “the top three drivers of attraction remain compensation, work-life balance and stability in the workplace.” Are they part of your employer brand? If not, employer branding should be addressed first. You don’t need to have a huge budget to do this. Branding should address your company’s reputation in the market and the industry you serve. What makes you a great employer? Why would someone want to work for your company? And let’s not forget the “employee value proposition,” which covers the basics like compensation, benefits, career path, work environment and company culture. While this is a lot to think about, you do the heavy lifting once and the rest is maintenance.
Highlighting your brand
Let’s discuss how to highlight your employer brand. Recruitment marketing must be done consistently over a period of time to build up your candidate pool. You must manage the marketing budget so that your name is out there all the time, with no blackouts.
This process is about creating an inbound flow of quality candidates to satisfy your needs over time. Where you invest that budget is important and needs to include your company’s career page, job boards, employee referral fees, social media and even radio and TV spots. Don’t be overwhelmed by the number of channels because they don’t have to be done all at once. Think of it as a fish finder — sometimes you find it necessary to temporarily shift locations and bait.
There are a few things that are critical to this process and most can be automated. Make sure you have a system of record such as an applicant tracking system with a talent network, a defined application process that is simple and relevant and an auto-reply method to respond to candidates.
With all this work done, moving forward is just refining the message and updating the brand as your organization evolves. The results will be impressive. Your company will see improvements in hiring metrics such as quality of hire, cost-per-hire and time to hire. These improvements will help you spend less in marketing to attract candidates and will also help you retain the people you have. You know where the people who left you went. Your employer brand will compete more effectively moving forward. You are ready for the battle for talent no matter the state of the labor market or the economy.
Saïd Eastman, CEO and general manager at Jobs in ME and JobsintheUS.com, can be reached at seastman@jobsintheus.com
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