The Current Landscape:

In today’s job market, we’re seeing two distinct scenarios play out; some companies are actively hiring and moving quickly to fill open positions, while others are hesitant to make hiring decisions. This is either because they’re uncertain about the state of the economy or because they’re unsure of their business outlook. When companies post job openings but don’t prioritize filling them, they risk disengaging job candidates. In Connecticut, this is causing stagnation, “Even if every unemployed person was hired tomorrow, we’d still have over 21,000 unfilled positions. The pace of Connecticut’s job growth is simply not meeting the demands of our economy,” said CBIA’s CEO Chris DiPentima. Companies must focus on attracting talent and encouraging people to join the workforce, not disengaging them.

While it’s understandable to be cautious during uncertain times, it’s important to consider the impact of your hiring strategy on your business, job candidates, those looking to reenter the workforce, and the current economic landscape.

Benefits of Hiring Faster

Businesses that move quickly to hire new employees can reap numerous benefits. Including:

Positive candidate experience

A CareerArc study asked job candidates what part of the job search needs the most improvement; 69% of candidates want the application process to be quicker and see employer response time improve. This is especially important in today’s competitive job market, where job seekers have more options and are looking for companies that value their time and effort. By hiring faster, businesses can demonstrate that they’re serious about finding talent and are committed to making the hiring process as seamless as possible.

• Tip: Respond to every candidate who applies to your job openings. Using email automation can make this easier. State that you received the resume and to expect a response from you in a given timeframe. Candidates not only value this demonstration of common courtesy, but it can also help avoid a bombardment of e-mails and phone calls from job candidates checking on their applications. This SHRM article highlights how to tell candidates they were not chosen for a desired role.

Improve candidate quality

In today’s competitive job market, skilled workers are highly sought-after. Waiting too long to interact with quality candidates can mean losing out on top talent. This is especially true for industries where specialized skills and experience are in high demand, such as IT, manufacturing, healthcare, and professional services. In these fields, quality candidates are often the first to be recruited by businesses that hire fast.

Minimize business disruption

While there’s room for flexibility, you don’t want to uproot your current employees and their individual responsibilities. Ensure that you distribute workloads evenly and prevent stressing out employees, especially during times of uncertainty when resignations occur unexpectedly. The Healthy Journal found that 63% of US workers are ready to quit their jobs due to stress.

• Tip: Make sure to check in with your staff after a team member resigns.

• Tip: Need a current employee to take on additional responsibilities? Make sure to clearly communicate what’s expected and the timeframe involved. Leaving it open-ended with a response such as ‘until the role is filled’ can create uncertainty and stress.

Culture of pride

Hiring faster sends a message to employees that there is a high demand to work for your company. It creates a sense of pride and motivation among current staff, showing them they are part of a team that is highly valued in the industry. Additionally, when candidates see that your organization is moving quickly to fill open positions, it can make them feel more confident in your company’s stability and commitment to growth. This can lead to a positive work culture, where employees feel supported and motivated to do their best work, rather than worrying about turnover or a lack of support.

• Tip: There’s no better way to foster a positive team culture than celebrating new hires! Once you’ve hired an employee, make sure to announce it and introduce them to the team in a casual environment. Celebrating new hires can help break the ice and show that your organization values creating a welcoming workplace.

Hiring faster through a streamlined process

You need a standardized process to streamline your hiring. Creating a new approach every time a position becomes vacant is not efficient. Consistency is the key to speed. It saves time and resources, and a structured process can be replicated whenever a new position needs to be filled. This helps eliminate bias and ensures that every candidate is evaluated similarly, regardless of the open position or their background.

Conclusion

It’s more important than ever for businesses to prioritize speed and efficiency in their hiring process. By doing so, you can enjoy a range of benefits, including a positive candidate experience, improved candidate quality, minimized business disruption, and foster a positive work culture. Remember to balance speed and thoroughness to ensure your hiring process is consistent and fair.

To take the first step towards improving the speed of your hiring process, we invite you to contact our team of experts today. With our help, you can create a streamlined hiring process that connects you with top talent. Need us ASAP? Reach us directly at 203.881.2037.

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Read to the end for insight into the MOST expensive part of hiring.

Internal HR Team Costs

As a business grows, having an in-house HR team may become necessary. An HR manager’s salary can range from $91,000 to $160,000 annually. The cost of hiring a new employee through an internal HR team can be calculated by determining the HR manager’s hourly rate and the number of hours they will spend on the hiring process. The longer a role takes to fill, the more expensive it becomes. Speed is crucial when calculating this cost, as a longer hiring process results in higher expenses.

External Hiring Team or Recruitment Partner Costs

For some businesses, an in-house HR team may not be economically viable or operationally efficient. In such cases, companies often seek the assistance of recruitment agencies, such as Staffworks, to fully take on their hiring needs. These agencies typically charge a fee that ranges from the employee’s annual salary or hourly rate. The recruitment process is time-consuming and resource-intensive, especially for roles requiring a specific skill set or that are not easy to fill. However, a recruitment agency can offset these costs by charging only when the position is filled, eliminating the time factor associated with internal HR teams.

Job Boards Fees

Posting and keeping up with job ads on various job boards is a costly undertaking. The median cost per job posting rose 43% in 2021, up to more than $28 per posting. The cost can vary widely. Monthly plans like CareerBuilder range from $250-$600. Other companies like LinkedIn and Indeed offer a more budget-friendly pay-per-click option. LinkedIn charges around $1.20 to $1.50 per click, and Indeed charges between $0.10 to $5 per click, depending on the title, location, and competition. Writing job descriptions and managing job postings is a time-consuming task that can divert attention from tasks that generate revenue. When working with a staffing company, these costs are typically included in the overall fee, and the company manages the job posting process for clients.

Background Checks

Conducting background checks on job candidates is a standard practice that also incurs costs. While you might be tempted to sign up for a screening service to run a background check for the low cost of $10, this is not the best practice. The reason is risk management. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that ensures fair treatment of job applicants when employers use screening companies to gather information for employment decisions. It is imperative to choose a screening service that complies with FCRA criteria and does not compromise the quality of the background check. Working with a professional recruitment agency, ensures the use of an FCRA-compliant service, mitigating the risk of facing legal challenges.

Training and Onboarding Cost

The cost of training and onboarding a new employee is also a significant factor to consider. This can include the cost of materials, equipment, and any additional training programs. LinkedIn found that the associated cost of onboarding is $3,000 per employee. Of course, you can onboard an employee for much less, but onboarding is often tied to retention. A good onboarding experience can lead to longer tenure. Companies that focus on onboarding retain 50% more new employees than companies that don’t. A bad onboarding experience is often linked to employees not referring. This is not good for future business, considering referral-based hiring is the best practice to land quality employees.

The Cost of an Unfilled Role

We know that time is money, but something we don’t talk enough about in the recruiting space is how expensive leaving a position vacant can be. It might even be the MOST expensive, especially if the role is critical to the business. A role with a $105,000 salary has a cost of vacancy (COV) of $20,000 in 35 days! An empty role can drain your company’s resources and impact your bottom line in more ways than you imagine. Here are a few:

• Additional marketing expenses – more time on job boards means more costs.
• Missed sales opportunities or decrease in the quality of service.
• Overtime pay to current employees covering the responsibilities of the vacant position.
• Decreased morale among current employees due to increased workload and pressure to compensate for the unfilled role.

Every day that goes by with an unfilled role, these costs pile up, slowly but surely eating into your profits.

Optimizing Hiring Costs

To optimize hiring costs, it’s essential to consider all the above factors and determine the most cost-effective solution for your business. This may involve negotiating fees with recruitment agencies, contemplating different job boards, and always considering time as a major factor.

Conclusion

In conclusion, hiring employees can be costly, but it is critical to the success of a business. By understanding the different cost areas involved in hiring and taking steps to optimize these costs, businesses can make informed decisions that support their growth and performance. Many of these costs can be avoided by partnering with an effective and reputable staffing agency like Staffworks.

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Ask the right questions

It’s easy to put skills on a resume that match a job post so that it’s pulled from the applicant tracking system. It is up to the interviewer to ask the right questions to see if the candidate really possesses said skills. To assess soft skills, you are looking for instances where they’ve demonstrated leadership, problem-solving, conflict resolution, or adaptability. Some questions to ask can be:

1. Tell me about a time when you had to communicate difficult or sensitive information to a colleague or supervisor. How did you handle the situation?
2. Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to a change in your work environment or responsibilities. How did you handle the situation?
3. Can you give me an example of a situation where you received feedback or constructive criticism, and describe the actions you took in response?
4. Tell me about a time when you were under a lot of stress or had a heavy workload. How did you handle the situation and manage your time effectively?
5. Can you provide an example of how you have built or maintained a positive relationship with a coworker or client? What specific actions did you take?

It’s important to remember that these questions are very surface-level. A quality candidate will be able to answer questions tailored to the specific needs and requirements of the job.

Assessing soft skills through body language and demeanor

Body language is a form of communication that can convey confidence, openness, and engagement, or the opposite such as disinterest, discomfort, or insecurity. When the candidate is answering questions, pay attention to their body language to get a sense of their soft skills at work.

Here is how our recruiters relate soft skills to body language in an interview:

1. Confidence: Good posture and eye convey can all convey confidence and leadership potential.
2. Openness: Open body language, such as uncrossed arms and legs, can show that you are approachable and receptive to others.
3. Engagement: Active listening and nodding can show that you are engaged in the conversation and interested in what the other person has to say.
4. Disinterest: Slouching, avoiding eye contact, or appearing distracted can convey disinterest or lack of motivation.
5. Insecurity: Fidgeting, avoiding eye contact, or crossing your arms and legs tightly can indicate insecurity or discomfort.

Take references into consideration.

Remember always to check references! Speaking with previous supervisors or colleagues can provide valuable insight into a candidate’s soft skills and overall work ethic.

Pro tip: Check LinkedIn to see if you have mutual connections, this can be a good sign.

If you’re contacting the references of a candidate, then you probably know they’re a technical fit, so be sure to stick to questions regarding personality. Here are a few to get started:

1. Can you describe a time that the candidate contributed to the company culture?
2. Can you provide an example of the candidate learning new things and taking on additional responsibilities successfully?
3. Can you give an example of the candidate using problem-solving skills to overcome a particular obstacle?
4. Can you describe a time when the candidate was given a significant amount of responsibility, and how they managed their workload?

Consider a temp-to-perm opportunity or internship

For some roles, it may be helpful to offer a trial period or internship as a way to assess a candidate’s fit within the company. This can be especially useful for entry-level or intern positions where technical skills may be less important. A recruiter, like the ones at Staffworks, can help you decide what makes the most sense for the open roles in your business. We specialize in an extensive range of industries, all with varying staffing goals.

Conclusion

Assessing soft skills is crucial to ensuring that a candidate will fit into the culture you and your existing team have cultivated over time. By asking the right questions, analyzing body language, and considering references, you can work toward making better hiring decisions. With practice, this becomes second nature, as it does for our recruiters.

Find out how we can support your hiring needs, so that you only meet with quality candidates.

Contact Us

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According to Harvard Business Review, recruiting talent remains the number one concern of CEOs. CBIA President Chris DiPentima states, “There’s no greater threat to our economic recovery than the labor shortage—Connecticut’s labor force declines since February 2020 represent 46% of the regional losses and 26% of the national decline.” Finding the right talent and keeping them has never been more difficult.

Finding The Right Talent

Effective recruiting and staffing is the first step in putting your goal and vision into practice in the workplace. The talent pool has cultivated rapidly with remote work allowing employees to work anywhere geographically. On the flip side, candidates for in-person roles are declining, putting them firmly in the driving seat. The task to recruit and retain top talent demands fresh and refocused energy.

Here are some do’s and don’ts to consider when recruiting for a role in the current competitive environment:

Do:

Require that all job openings are posted internally

This is one of the very few options that require little to no recruiting costs and training could take less time because of the employee’s familiarity with the environment. This is also important for keeping good talent, especially for those who value growth. LinkedIn data shows that the most common reason employees leave their company is career advancement, which is often linked to employers’ reluctance to promote from within.

Do:

Offer a generous compensation and benefits package

Another approach for firms to draw in and keep top employees is by offering competitive compensation and benefits packages. If your business gains a reputation for providing favorable perks, it will typically be easier to attract skilled candidates, and you might even experience some favorable side effects in marketing and sales. According to Glassdoor’s Employment Confidence Survey, 80% of employees would choose additional benefits over a pay raise.

Don’t:

Hire any talent that comes along

We get it, staff is hard to find. However, you do not want to compromise the integrity of your business. If employees feel the company’s recruiting practices come off as desperate, then they are less likely to have pride in the company. They feel as if they too were picked out of desperation.

Don’t:

Do it all alone

Nobody said it was easy. When it comes to recruiting, there are no courses or much reading material on what it is supposed to look like. We promote exemplary staff into management, but we never offer them training on how to effectively hire a team. We subconsciously start looking for candidates who remind us of ourselves or cognitive bias obstructs our judgment in other ways. This can keep great candidates from advancing in the process. Outsourcing your recruiting or staffing services is a simple solution to this. The staffing industry is a multibillion-dollar industry for a reason – it works. Recruiters like the ones at Staffworks Inc. work towards creating relationships with businesses and candidates, figuring out their needs, and making the right fit.  This attention to detail requires a dedicated effort. At StaffWorks we understand that talent is the most valuable business asset.

If you have never worked with a recruiting agency before consider reading our article on; 5 Common Misconceptions About Working With a Temp Agency for better insight into how we bring value to you and your future employees.

Keeping Talent

Keeping employee turnover low is extremely important, especially during a labor shortage. Recruiting is timely and overall, a huge expense. According to Employee Benefit News employers typically pay 33 % of a worker’s annual compensation to replace them. Hourly workers are also expensive to replace. A study from Society Human Resource Management states that the average cost to hire an employee is $4,129, or 6 weeks of pay for a $15 per hour job. On top of that, businesses invest $1,886 and 47.6 hours a year in the training of each hourly worker. After effective recruiting, retaining employees becomes critical to the long-term success of your business.

Do:

Invest in employees who might not meet all requirements

Realistically not a lot of candidates are going to be able to check every box in the job description. Willingness to teach and train potential prospects can be well worth it, especially in today’s market. Remember you can always teach skills, not personality. For example, if a company is looking to hire an engineer III it could make more sense to hire an enthusiastic engineer I or II with leadership skills and have them trained in the company’s process to eventually be the engineer III they need. This opens the candidate pool and allows employers to be pickier.

Do:

Offer perks that encourage employee productivity

Another way to retain talent is by offering perks that result in more productivity, this is mutually beneficial to employers and employees. This can look like an attendance incentive where employees earn cash bonuses for consecutively showing up on time. With the labor shortage, new and creative incentives must be created to keep good employees.

Don’t:

Ignore employees through uncertain times

As an employer, it is easy to look the other way when times are tough, usually with no consequences. However, those employers who act during uncertain times get that much more admiration from employees. A great example of this is a company we work with that recently rolled out a recession bonus for employees. The bonus includes a few hundred dollars that say, we know it is tough right now and we support you. Support could also look like mental health benefits. PwC found that 76% of stressed employees say financial worries have hurt their productivity, and 25% of this group say the impact has been severe or major. With the holidays less than 6 months away consider ways you can support your team which simultaneously fuels company culture and employee retention.

Conclusion

Undeniably, recruiting and retaining talent in today’s market is much more difficult than it once was. Recruiting the right candidate is difficult enough and retaining them is a whole new challenge. Let us take care of the first part. With 40% of recent job switchers looking for new positions, company focus should shift to keeping employees happy and engaged.

Our experienced recruiters are always willing to answer your questions. Click HERE to talk!

If there is something you do for your employees that is unique and has helped you keep them happy, please feel free to share down below with our recruitment community.

The post Recruiting and Retaining Talent During a Labor Shortage appeared first on StaffWorks, Inc..

1. Have filed an unemployment claim with the State of Connecticut for the week immediately prior to May 30, 2021;
2. Obtain and maintain a full-time job for a period of eight consecutive weeks prior to December 31, 2021; and
3. Not receive unemployment compensation during the required eight-week period of employment.

This program is being administered by the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services.  If you are interested please contact StaffWorks today and we will make sure you are eligible and help you complete the application to receive your $1,000 for those employees that qualify.

https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2021/05-2021/Governor-Lamont-Announces-Back-to-Work-CT-Program

The post Need a job? How about an extra $1,000? appeared first on StaffWorks, Inc..

Here are some common feedback mistakes:

• Speaking out only when things are wrong.
• Providing generic praise without specifics or an honest underpinning.
• Waiting until performance or behavior is substantially below expectations before acting on it.
• Giving negative feedback in public.
• Criticizing performance without giving suggestions for improvement.
• Not conducting regular performance reviews.

Clearly, giving and receiving constructive feedback is a skill that must be honed.

Developing proficiency in this area is essential to building good relationships with, and motivating peak performance from, your team.  To help get you started, here are four tips for providing feedback the right way:

1. Be proactive. Nip issues in the bud and avoid messy interpersonal tangles that result from neglected communication.  If you meet with employees regularly to give feedback, it conveys, “Your success is important to me, so I want to be accessible to you.”
2. Be specific. Although it’s not easy to provide negative feedback, it’s important to be as clear as possible by giving specific examples that illustrate your point.  Instead of saying, “Your attitude is bad,” say, “When you miss deadlines, then cross your arms and look away when I discuss it with you, it gives me the impression that you don’t care about the quality of your work.  Can you help me understand this behavior better?”
3. Develop a progress plan. Be clear about the specific changes in behavior that you expect in a specific period of time, and follow up as scheduled.
4. Link employees’ performance to organizational goals. Reinforce the value of your employees’ contributions by giving specific examples of how their work and positive behaviors serve the organization and its customers.

At Staffworks, we understand and appreciate the value of constructive feedback. So we’d like to hear from you. Please contact us with your questions, comments, and suggestions.

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