Are You Prepared For Peak? By Hire Dynamics CATEGORY: Blog POSTED: July 23, 2018 By Stephen Koch, Director of Field Recruiting Third quarter means one thing to most businesses – peak season is right around the corner. This year, organizations are challenged with historically low unemployment resulting in fewer available candidates and increased wage pressures. And this is not a local issue. According to recent findings from the Nightly Business Report, the matter has hit a national critical point. With demand up and supply down, the struggle is real in both recruiting and retention. Furthermore, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 6.7 million job openings at the end of April, yet only 6 million Americans were classified as unemployed. As Director of Field Recruiting at Hire Dynamics, I’m part of a team who works through these issues on a daily basis. Whatever challenges you’re dealing with, chances are, we have first-hand experience and solutions. In kicking off our four-part series on Planning for Peak, we’ll provide in-depth knowledge with recommendations and tactics to help companies prepare. Today we have identified the top five things to ensure that businesses like yours are prepared for a successful busy season. You’ll want to follow our blog series as we go deeper into each of these points, revealing more tips and specific strategies backed by case studies and resources. The time to attract qualified talent and actively address this issue with a strategic peak preparedness plan is now. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail. Top 5 Things Employers Can Do Now to Prepare for Peak Streamline the Hiring Process What is your company’s speed to hire? Can you complete the entire hiring process in one visit? How long does it take for your company’s background checks to be completed? Is everything that is checked necessary? How many years back do you really need? If your background checks take more than few days, top candidates will already be working at the competition by the time that you’re ready to hire them. Consider putting pending checks to work until their backgrounds are processed. Culture What kind of culture do you have? Are you a Great Place to Work? How do managers treat talent? Do they have a relationship with their immediate manager? What kind of onboarding and training do you offer? At Hire Dynamics, our goal is for 20% of talent we place with our clients to be hired on full-time. Retain top talent by offering a 30, 60, and/or 90-day incremental increase and/or an end-of-season completion bonus. Our proprietary Work4HD App increases fulfillment rates, hiring quality, speed and efficiency while appealing to Millennials and other technologically savvy job seekers. Stability and Length of Assignment How do your hours look? Are they the same every week for the whole season? Top talent will not stick around if they receive 40 hours one week followed by 25 hours the next, without foreknowledge and consistency. Is this a strictly seasonal assignment or can they be considered for longer-term opportunities? Overtime can be a great selling point for some talent while burning out employees, so upfront communication is key. Have you considered part-time and/or weekend shifts? When businesses miss the mark at peak, it is often because supervisors who have had 8 direct reports suddenly have 40. Have you considered adding team leads for your peak season? Value Adds What is in it for talent? Taking a deeper look into what your organization can extend to talent as a value-added incentive can be an effective strategy. Be creative and think outside the box: Can they take advantage of employee discounts? What kind of work do they want to do and how flexible can you be? Are we offering cross training in different areas or allow them to pick up additional shifts? Talent can make themselves more attractive for future placements by gaining more experience. What kind of coaching will they receive? Offer Competitive Wages You must be above market rate to attract and retain top talent. Set yourself up for success by paying what your closest competitors do or better. You cannot afford to be even fifty cents below in this competitive environment. Know what the competition is offering and if you need to increase your rate, show that you are serious by increasing it by $1 or more. Call your local Hire Dynamics representative or contact us here, to place an order for talent that is ready to work for you this peak season! And follow our blog series, Peak Preparedness Planning, as we reveal more tips, resources, and specific strategies that you can use. Peak Preparedness Planning Part 2: Creating a Culture to Attract Quality Talent Peak Preparedness Planning Part 3: Paying Competitive Wages Peak Preparedness Planning Part 4: Streamline the Hiring Process Download our exclusive case study on competitive wages. © 2018 Hire Dynamics, LLC.
