Prepare for Peak: Streamline the Hiring Process By Hire Dynamics CATEGORY: Blog POSTED: August 1, 2018 By Andi Haynes, Senior Director of On-Sites Take a drive through your town and count the ‘Help Wanted’ notices you see on signs and storefronts in just two miles – 10? 20? More? I bet you will be amazed at how many you spot, as businesses everywhere are looking for people to fill their open jobs. With unemployment at just 4%, it’s as competitive a job market as I have seen in more than 20 years of recruiting. According to the latest information released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ratio of unemployed persons per job opening stayed at a historic low of 0.9 in May 2018. That means there are more jobs open than there are people looking for work. A Need for Speed In the original Cars movie, Lightning McQueen declares feeling the same need for speed that Tom Cruise’s character did in Top Gun. Today that need applies to recruiting as talent wants jobs NOW. Candidates have a limited shelf life. Those who are looking for work won’t be available for long. Companies that can’t hire quickly face a greater chance of losing talent that they have identified if it takes a few days to get them on the job. Sometimes, talent even agrees to take a job but then ‘ghosts’ the hiring company; they don’t show up to work because another company put them to work sooner. This ghosting trend has been increasing lately. How fast a company hires determines who will work for them. This is especially important as peak approaches. To help prepare for peak, companies should evaluate and streamline their hiring processes from recruiting to onboarding by asking questions: Job requirements: What requirements do we HAVE to have for a job? What is the minimum skill level needed? Hiring timeline: What is our company’s speed to hire? Can we complete the hiring process in the first visit? Hiring responsibilities: Should we recruit in-house or partner with a professional staffing company? How much time does our HR team have to balance all of their responsibilities? Interviews: Do we need to conduct a second interview with a candidate? If we work with a recruiting company, does their interview process meet our needs? Background checks: How long does it take for our background checks to be completed? Is everything that is checked necessary? How many years back do we really need? Can we start someone with a background check pending? Do we need reference checks, or can we rely on a staffing partner’s pre-screening interview? Onboarding: How are we getting talent up to speed when they arrive? Do they feel welcome enough to return to complete the project or to eventually transition to permanent employment? Partner with an Expert At Hire Dynamics, we have extensive hiring expertise gained from putting more than 8,500 people to work each week. We use that knowledge to conduct hiring needs assessments and hiring process analyses for clients. Hire Dynamics helps them determine their ‘must have’ job requirements and look at how we can collaborate to get the talent that clients need in the door quickly. For every role, Hire Dynamics pre-screens talent and asks knock-out questions such as ‘Are you flexible with job shifts?’, ‘Can you be available to work extra hours if needed?’, and ‘Are you willing to submit to a drug screen?’ We also conduct face-to-face behavior-based interviews. I believe this interview is critical because it marks the beginning of our journey with talent. Spending the time to really get to know talent and what they want to do is vital to a great partnership and match for both them and the client. Hire Dynamics enjoys high Google Ratings in part because we take the time to create that emotional connection with talent up front. It’s not just a job. We want to give them a career if that is their long-term objective. It is another reason why talent is loyal to us. In addition to pre-screening and in-person interviews, Hire Dynamics conducts onsite drug screens and criminal background checks for each role that we are filling. We do these at the beginning of our work with talent to keep the hiring process flowing. This summer, we launched the proprietary app, Work4HD. We invested in it so that we can engage with talent the way that they want. The Work4HD app appeals to Millennials and other technologically savvy job seekers by helping them find jobs faster. Once a candidate signs up, push notifications light up their smartphone to alert them of openings in real time. After they are placed, Work4HD gives them timely access to updates on their assignment. Hire Dynamics also helps companies understand what helps get good candidates in the door and keeps them there. Factors including pay rate, job hours and length of job assignment are certainly important, as is training. We educate companies about skills gaps that can be addressed via training and help supervisors learn what a Best Place to Work looks like as well as how to operate that way, so people want to stay with a company. On-Site Programs Help Onboard Talent Quickly We can also establish an on-site program for clients. That is where Hire Dynamics serves as an extension of the client’s culture, onboarding talent quickly and ensuring a smooth start to that part of their hiring journey. We show new talent the ropes for their assignment, including information as simple as where the bathrooms and break rooms are located. We constantly walk the floors to answer questions, coach and counsel talent. In short, we show them that we care about them and their experience throughout their journey. We are proud of how we hire and engage talent and how we work with clients to ensure their hiring practices are competitive in this very tight labor market. Our expertise, engagement and caring are key reasons why clients and talent consistently rate us highly for their staffing and placement needs. At Hire Dynamics, we truly believe that What We Do Matters. Call your local Hire Dynamics representative or contact us, to place an order for talent that is ready to work for you this peak season! And follow our blog series, Preparing for Peak, as we reveal more tips, resources, and specific strategies that you can use. This is the fourth part of our Peak Preparedness Planning blog series. Part 1: Are You Prepared for Peak? Part 2: Creating a Culture to Attract Quality Talent Part 3: Are You Paying Competitively? To download our exclusive case study on competitive wages, click here. © 2018 Hire Dynamics, LLC.
