5 Ways to Hire Good People in Today’s Market

Hiring continues to become more and more challenging as trends in the job market wear on. Candidates are harder to find, and the right candidates are even harder. It’s important to know how to overcome the challenges of the current market and find the best possible candidates to fill your jobs. Below are 5 of our best tips for hiring good people in today’s market.

Have a Referral Strategy

Having a referral strategy in place is extremely important when it comes to hiring in the current market. Many of the best candidates can come from the networks of your existing candidates. This is an excellent way to find experienced and relatively trustworthy people. Establishing a reward program for referrals can be very successful in encouraging employees to refer their friends and former colleagues. This also gives you potential access to passive candidates, or candidates who are not actively searching for a job. You have a much greater chance of hiring an interested candidate who is not already searching, especially with the speed of today’s hiring market.

Compromise on Experience/Temp-to-Hire

Due to a growing skills gap, many employers are having to compromise on experience and hire for potential and personality instead. The skills gap is a shortage of workers who have the skills required to fill specific jobs. SHRM reports that 83% of HR professionals say hiring at their company has been affected by this labor shortage. Employers must exercise greater flexibility with experience requirements in an effort not to disqualify good candidates. One solution is to hire less qualified employees and train them in the required skills. A good way to determine if a less qualified candidate is right for the job is to offer the job on a temporary-to-hire basis. In this way, you can see how a candidate performs and determine their trainability before hiring them full-time.

Know Which Competitors to Recruit From

Many of the best candidates are already employed, and many of the candidates with the skills you require are employed by your competitors. Knowing what your competitors offer to their employees can be extremely valuable when it comes to deciding which competitor to recruit out of. You can find out what benefits they are offering by looking at their job posts. Check employee reviews on websites like Glassdoor. If there are plenty of negative reviews, it might indicate that employees are unhappy working there. If you know what to offer, an employee who is unhappy working for your competitor is much more likely to come work for you instead.

Offer Over-the-Top Benefits

It’s important to know what your competitors offer their employees, and then one-up them. Many employers are now trying to gain a competitive edge in hiring by offering benefits that might seem over-the-top, such as unlimited PTO, gym memberships, and free lunches. Not only will this increase your current employee satisfaction, it will also make your company a more attractive workplace for potential new employees. This can be a very good strategy when it comes to finding good candidates in an otherwise dry talent-pool. In a candidate driven market, attraction is key.

Have a Dedicated Talent Acquisition Person or Search Firm

Having a dedicated employee to handle talent acquisition is absolutely essential in today’s market. Hiring is a full-time job, and with a deepening talent shortage and falling unemployment rate, finding and hiring the right candidates can be extremely challenging. A dedicated HR person will be able to take the burden of hiring off of you and your team. If hiring someone in-house doesn’t seem like the right option, consider consulting a recruiter or a search firm. Recruiters have access to a network of candidates you might not be able to find otherwise. If you’re still not sure you need hiring support, read our article on how to know when the time is right.

In a tight labor market, employers are struggling to find good candidates. It’s important to strategize and figure out ways to hire in the current market in order to remain a competitive employer. By adjusting your hiring strategy to suit the climate of today’s market, you are sure to find good candidates more successfully.

Bradley Staffing Group is a full-service staffing firm based in Wayne, PA. We are committed to matching A-level talent with best-in-class businesses. We are known for placing excellent Executive Assistants. Our knowledgeable and well-trained staff brings a combined 70+ years of staffing experience to our clients and candidates alike. https://bradleystaffinggroup.com