I thought I’d pick a topic that I have been hearing a rumbling about from our clients: Why is it that hiring good people is so gosh darn frustrating right now? That is a fantastic question and I am going to dive deep into this with the why and the how to fix it.
If you have had to hire someone in the past 3-6 months you have more than likely experienced a few things: you have seen fewer qualified applicants, people who couldn’t pass a background check or drug test, people that won’t show up to work or a variety of other issues. Our clients have been telling us they have had a very hard time over the past 3-6 months and some have no idea why.
When you start to look at the market place, it isn’t like it was in 2010 or even 2017. Right now, Minnesota has one of the nation’s lowest unemployment rates at 3.1% as of December 2017. Minneapolis has a 2.4% and Saint Paul has a 2.5%. The nation is at a 4.1% as of December 2017. Now that data is 4 months old and things have changed quite a bit in the past 4 months. When you start to take a look at this 3.1% think about how many of those people are on the system and will always be on the system whether it be the fact that childcare is more expensive than the job they can get, they are caring for a loved one or they just abuse the system. Now that number almost cuts in half to 1.5%.
This is the largest issue companies come across when hiring staff. Not only is the unemployment rate extremely low, but many companies are treating the market like it is still 2015. They are doing 1st and 2nd round interviews, reference checks, background checks and drug testing which ends up dragging out the process almost a month prior to a job offer. In the market today, people will get 2-3 job offers in a matter of a week, so by the time companies are done doing their hiring process the person has received another job offer and is no longer available so they have to start all over.
The big question is how can we still hire smart but go faster so we don’t lose our good candidates. This is a fantastic question that I would be happy to shed some light onto this issue. Instead of doing 2 rounds of interviews on 2 different days, schedule everyone to meet the 3 most qualified candidate the 1st time they come into the office. If that means the candidate is there for 3 hours that is ok, they expect this right now and will appreciate it more than you know. If you are working with a staffing agency they should be checking references on candidates prior to sending them over so ask for the reference notes from the agency. If you are not using an agency, check references prior to them coming into your office, you can incorporate this into your recruiter’s process.
We just finished working with a client in Columbia Heights that had seen over 60 candidates on their own and could not find someone who fit. Whether it was personality fit, passing the background and drug test qualifying them for DHS clearance or just not showing up for the interview, they were very frustrated. After presenting just 3 candidates and conducting 1 interview they found their next employee. We had thoroughly vetted him verifying his background and drug history as well as his work history. We had also payed close attention to the companies culture when we met with them to try and find a personality match. Gavin started Monday and is working out Fantastic!
We had another client that had 7 staffing agencies they were partnering with and they were beyond frustrated. They were receiving unqualified candidates, not enough candidates, a “resume service” or the agency was coming in way too high in price. We were able to go in and meet with them and quickly identify their needs. Identifying the price structure they prefer, and they type of candidate they need. We were able to walk away with their trust and give them comfort in what we can do to help. We were able to identify people within 1 week of our meeting that fit their company culture and have the skills they are looking for. We have 7 people working with them already and are continuing to look for more qualified candidates.
To help keep the hiring process moving quickly so you can find the best employees available it is important to have the right recruiters in your back pocket. One of our clients was struggling to find PCA’s, RN’s and LPN’s. Now we do not necessarily work in that space, however we were able to help them find a recruiter that has a strong background in the home health care field. He has been with them for over 2 weeks now and has been able to help streamline their process.
JP Staffing loves working with our clients to help solve their needs. We spend the time to get to know you, your companies culture and environment as well as the skills needed to do the job. We then begin our search specifically tailored to your need. If you are in need of some Grade A quality talent shoot us a call at 651-289-1363 or e-mail csmith@jpstaffing.com
Written by Calvin Smith, Vice President of JP Staffing, LLC