On July 28, 2021, Frasco® Profiles conducted an hour-long webinar with a panel of HR professionals to discuss recruiting challenges and strategies in 2021. Due to the pandemic, the landscape of hiring has drastically changed, and we gathered this group to unpack their experiences to help our audience navigate this new terrain. To view a recording of the webinar, click here.
Our panelists asked the audience, “how has the pandemic affected recruiting in your organization?” The poll results revealed that a whopping 85% of the audience said, “significant impact on recruiting – we can’t find qualified candidates” while a moderate 15% say, “not at all – we have plenty of qualified candidates.”
Here are the questions we asked and what our panel had to say:
1) What are the biggest recruiting challenges your organization is facing today?
Several pandemic-related issues have arisen including the inability to hire on-site workers who are parents of young children due to school and daycare closures, applicants unwilling to move companies or start new jobs due to uncertainties, realizing that, in some cases, government stipends are greater than low-income wages, as well as the “ghosting” phenomena, where applicants do not show up for interviews or new hires do not attend their first day of work.
2) How has recruiting changed for your organization over the last 2 years?
There is a much lower volume of applicants for open positions. If your company is experiencing growth, hiring structures and processes need to be evaluated more frequently. The new generations, including Millennials and Generation Z, care about company value alignment, social responsibility, and diversity and inclusion, whereas compensation was the biggest selling point for prior generations. There are much more technological advances being used compared to 2 years ago, from video interviews, virtual onboarding, and digital document sharing and signings.
3) What strategies have you implemented to attract talent?
We encourage our employees to make referrals and offer bonuses for successful hires. For new hires, you can emphasize the referral program during the onboarding process to get recommendations. We host virtual and on-site job fairs, either hosted by us or we partner with a job posting site. We connect with our marketing departments to create recruiting campaigns via email and social media to promote our brand and company culture. You may also take advantage of professional networking sites including social media and local industry associations to make connections.
4) Have you had to revise your compensation strategies to attract talent?
We’ve all had to pivot and adjust our compensation structures to stay competitive, match inflation, and attract new talent. We’ve implemented sign-on bonuses, either with a wait period, or performance-based. We’ve introduced incremental pay raises after being retained for certain benchmarks. We continually communicate with our frontline recruiters and actively listen to what is important to applicants. We included additional incentives, besides standard benefit offerings, such as pet insurance, and offer benefits no later than the first 30 days of employment. We now review our compensation strategies on an ongoing basis, as opposed to reviewing them annually or bi-annually.
5) How are you leveraging HR technology as part of your recruiting strategy?
We encourage recruiters to utilize all the features and functions of their ATS. We host virtual meetings, job fairs, and interviews. Applicants want the application process to be efficient, easy, and mobile-friendly, especially those that are currently working in another job. We add QR codes to posters and business cards that link to job postings for easy access. Applications to some positions can be filled out without having to attach a resume. We find a higher response rate from candidates via text versus email. We send our candidates text messages reminding them of their interview times, text-to-apply options, as well as job offerings.
6) What strategies are you using to retain your employees?
We stay connected and communicate with our staff regularly to keep a pulse on morale. We work with our team to develop career ladders, goal set, succession plan, and mentoring programs. We give our team a voice by providing a suggestion box and allow them to anonymously complete feedback surveys. Small tokens of appreciation go a long way. This can include observing national days to treat staff with food or treats, praising them with words of gratitude via announcements or email, and providing recognition with tributes and bonuses.
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The material in this post is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. We urge you to consult with your legal counsel to obtain legal opinion specific to your needs.
