On May 4th the Bureau of Labor Statistics dropped its Employment Situation update for April 2018 . The report outlines that unemployment dropped to 3.9%. This is the lowest US rate rate in 17 years! The talent you’re organization hopes to recruit has more options now than they’ve had in nearly 20 years. As hiring managers and recruiters it’s about time we started behaving accordingly. The US has been on a positive job growth curve for the past 91 months. We’ve had over 7 years to start acting like we actually want these talented candidates to work with us.
Unfortunately, far too many employers & hiring managers are stuck in “prom queen syndrome” where they are acting as if they are the hottest item in town and prospective talent should simply line up for a chance at mere consideration! As a result, Hiring Managers are still interviewing, they are recruiting processes, they are dragging on too long, and they continue to be cumbersome and painful, and everyone for talks about the candidate’s WIIFM.
Here are 5 steps you can take NOW to drop the “playing hard to get” act:
- Job Advertisements / Postings – Your boring job ads are keeping you from even hearing from top talent! Job ads are NOT job descriptions. Focus on explaining the main purposes of the role. Talk about the minimum qualifications. Explain what’s in it for THEM. Remember to drop all the legal mumbo-jumbo. Keep the legal speak in the job description and out of your job ads. If you think you are required to include legal speak in your ADS you are WRONG.
- Application Process – Are you still asking applicants to fill out applications when you need a resume?
- Interview process – Keep it short & simple! Schedule multiple interviews on the same day and, remember, you do not need 5 interviews.
- Employee Value Proposition – Everyone in the interview process must be trained on how to sell the WIIFM. At a minimum, all interviewers should be able to sell based on Compensation, Benefits, Work Content (what you’re doing), Career Path, & Company Values.
- Offers – We’ve heard the adage that perception is reality. Well, keep this in mind when making your next offer, the perception of disinterest breeds disinterest. Candidates who wait days before receiving an offer will perceive a growing level of disinterest on behalf of the employer. Consequently, a candidate’s disinterest will grow.
