Hiring Wisdom: The 10 Most Significant Changes Recruiting New Employees

Last week I got a call from a client I’d done an hourly employee recruiting and selection presentation for in 2011.

She started by saying how much her meeting attendees had enjoyed it and that many had seen dramatically improved results from implementing a number of the tools and techniques I shared. She then asked if I had anything new to offer.

My reply was that, when it comes to recruiting, selecting, and retaining great, frontline employees, we are now living in an entirely different world than we were just four short years ago, and that things are also much different today than what they were just last year.

Organizations that want to build a frontline workforce that will build the bottom line need to adapt to the realities of today’s labor market.

10 things to think about

Here are the 10 most significant changes I see, as well as my recommendations as to how most effectively tackle these challenges:

We now have the lowest unemployment rate of the past nine (9) years. (Develop a more proactive recruiting process.)
It’s a sellers’ market and lots of job seekers are not buying what employers have to offer. (Redefine your Unique Employment Proposition.)
We have the lowest percentage of the population actually working or looking for a job than has ever been the case. (Learn how to recruit those who are not actively looking for work.)
Many potential, entry-level workers would be leaving money on the table were they to take a job and forfeit their government subsidies. (Entice them with a future worth working toward and a high level of job engagement.)
More unprepared workers are entering the labor market because, for the last eight (8) years, we have had a steady decline in the number of teenagers working during their high school years ─ and many have never held a job at all. (Develop effective ways to train inexperienced new hires.)
The way people look for jobs has dramatically changed. Employers who don’t use social media to recruit promising applicants are missing the boat. (How to make Craigslist and Facebook work for you.)
Most screening and interviewing selection systems only identify great applicants rather than honing in on those who would be great employees. (Why and how to hire for attitude and talent rather than skills, experience, or personality.)
Most pre-employment testing tools single out the best test-takers, not the best employees. (Make use of new tools that identify those who will actually perform the best on the job.)
Automated application screening systems rule out whole groups of promising applicants ─ those who have been out of work for a while, the inexperienced, etc. The upshot of most automated hiring systems is that managers are now able to hire more mediocre employees faster. (How to ensure your system screens-in the best.)
Unlike four years ago, employees are not sticking with a job no matter what because now they can find another, or even a better one, in no time flat. (Learn how to give employees plenty of good reasons to stay.)

This was originally published in the July 2015 Humetrics Hiring Hints newsletter.