Shift in focus: It's an employee's market
November 27, 2007
 By Michael Palmer, practice leader of Ceridian Talent Acquisition |
| It should be no secret that the balance of power in the employment market is shifting to the employee. Over the past few years, there have been many articles and whitepapers circulating throughout the recruiting community that illustrate this new reality. U.S. businesses are taking notice -- it's time for a substantial change in the way we approach hiring and retention practices.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management, there will be 22 million new jobs created by 2008, with only 17 million new workers entering the workforce. And to add to that, the Conference Board has predicated that 76 million U.S. workers from the baby-boomer generation will begin retiring in 2010. These are alarming numbers. But before we blame it all on the boomers, other factors that have tipped the balance of power in the employment market include:
Win the talent war Many organizations are already experiencing the challenges of finding top talent. Today, attracting and retaining the best candidates truly requires a "shift in focus" and new strategies in recruitment and retention practices. If you want employees to want to work for your organization, you can make it happen by employing a few new tactics and focusing on your company's strengths. So what do you do when you're trying to entice the same high performance talent your competitors are trying to win? Old school HR recruiting practices and perceptions no longer apply in today's ever-changing workforce. Whether we like it or not, there has to be a shift in focus from embracing employer-centric tactics to implementing candidate-focused recruiting strategies that meet the expectations of prospective employees. More than ever before, winning "the war for talent" means implementing strategies to keep your most valuable employees and attracting top-notch new talent through creative, meaningful recruitment programs. If you have not embarked on developing winning strategies to acquire the best talent for your organization, where do you begin? Let's start with some of the expectations of high-potential candidates. These employee expectations are pulled directly from surveys that we conduct across our recruiting practice.
Now that we understand some key expectations, how do you meet them and differentiate your company from competitors also vying for your future prized employees? Leverage your organization's brand in the marketplace Employer branding refers to strategies an organization uses to engage its current employees while attracting desired employees. High performance companies are winning in the employment market by "piggybacking" their employment brand with the traditional marketing techniques used to market their products and services. It's actually common sense: employers compete for talented employees in the same way they compete for consumers. Brand-centric organizations see successful marketing techniques as vital strategic drivers that not only attract ideal candidates, but also maximize their bottom line. In many ways, the employer brand has become synonymous with the consumer brand. It is important to truly understand why your company is an enterprising place to work, and the best place to start is to solicit honest feedback from existing employees. They will gladly express why it's a great place to work. Of course, there may also be some surprising negatives that arise during this exercise. These are the areas where management and Human Resources can implement constructive changes. Denying that problems exist can pose a challenge in retaining top talent and your employee brand image can be quickly impacted. Get organized about managing resumes and recruiting The resume and the interview are still extremely important tools when assessing candidates. However, they shouldn't be the laborious task they were just 10 years ago. Use technology to speed up and prioritize recruitment activities. Employ proven third party services to validate hiring decisions. Did you know that less than one percent of companies notify candidates of the status of their application if they are not selected for an interview? I frequently refer to this as the "black hole" of recruiting. Technology and impartial outsourcing makes it easy to keep all candidates informed of their progression, or lack thereof, and is a simple way to set yourself apart from your competitors. Look to the future Another winning strategy employed by brand-centric organizations is to simply recognize more than just the "right now" value in every candidate. Is this applicant right for a future opportunity? Could they be a valuable referral source or a future customer? A narrow focus on "right now" can be transparent to your potential employees, and can set off warning bells that you are trying to satisfy immediate needs more than build long-term relationships with your employees. Look deeper and ask the right questions Although there is a sense of urgency to hire candidates before the competition snags them, it is also important to understand what you are assessing on a candidate's resume. So many outstanding candidates may have taken time out from their careers to write, study, travel, raise families and even search for employment. This is where highly skilled recruiting and interview probing tactics are essential. Verify your facts Conducting full background checks to validate a candidate's information prevents a potentially disastrous hiring decision. Hire an objective resource to check references, validate candidate claims, check for a criminal past and if appropriate, verify educational claims and/or credit history. It's crucial to the success of your organization that you know who you are hiring. Keep candidates on board The single most significant opportunity to affect employee retention is during the first month of employment. Having a great new hire program goes far beyond orientation classes and on-boarding processes. Make sure introduction procedures are firmly established. Ensure the employee is not left floundering during their first week. Be certain that benefits forms and paperwork are all in place to ensure a smooth start. Whether your organization is a large corporation or a small business, you can win the war for talent when the buzz is that your workplace is "a great place to work." The key to winning in the war for talent is to keep the great employees you've already got, and hire the best for the future. As the practice leader of Ceridian's Talent Acquisition practice, Michael Palmer is responsible for the overall business strategy, growth and development of Ceridian's recruitment products and services. He led the launch of Ceridian's Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) practice in 2003 and continues to oversee the service and software sectors of Ceridian's growing presence in talent acquisition. Michael's career in human resources has primarily been focused on recruiting and staffing in challenging, high demand environments where his passion and accomplishments in this field have established him as a knowledge expert and thought leader. His breadth of experience includes re-engineering and implementing the recruiting processes for a large IT outsourcing organization in Canada and the United States, as well as developing the recruiting process model for Ceridian's entry into the HR BPO market in the U.S. Michael has managed large scale recruitment projects and recruitment organizations delivering thousands of new hires annually. |
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