Allied Business Breakout: Who not How…Attracting Talent

Each month during our Allied Business Breakout Sessions, we spend one hour discussing one topic sharing insights amongst our Allied Community.  In June 2021, we discussed how everyone is struggling to figure out how to attract and keep talent. 

Just about everyone spoken to is experiencing incredible growth opportunities, but they are stretched too thin due to lack of talent pool and how to access it.

Becky Lewis, Chief of Operations with All-In-One Accounting has shared a fresh strategy from the service side on how they are handing attracting new talent.

Becky reveals that previously their approach was very reactionary.  They would work through their pipeline of interested candidates to determine who was qualified and bring them onto the team.  While this worked for the most part but changing to a proactive strategy, they were able to go from 33% qualified candidates last year to 70% qualified candidates this year alone.

New Proactive Approach to Attracting Talent

1. Become a Brand Ambassadors for your company – this is especially important, work to create a clear scripted message of who you are and create a distribution guide for everyone to use.  This guide will include each step in the process with scripted messaging that is appropriate for each step. There is no guess work…everyone goes through training on how to use the same guide.  Literally make the guide a cut and paste process.
    
2. Branding – make sure all company materials are consistent in your message, this includes your website, marketing materials, your team profiles shown on any type of site.
    
3. Engage with Talent you have already deemed qualified – use specific messaging and tactics to engage in conversation with a candidate in hopes of having an exploratory conversation with them.
    
4. Create a score card – use a score card to track the messaging and its success or failure.
    
5. Determine the best performing recruiting sites – there are many recruiting sites available (LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, etc.) find the site that allows you to reach the candidates you are seeking.
    
6. Tailor to your candidate’s pain points – work to understand what it is that is not working for them in their current position and address how your company handles that pain point.
    
7. Incentives for Team – encourage your team to be your Brand Ambassadors with a referral program rewarding them for each new team member.
    
8. Allot paid time for recruiting – give a set amount of paid time to recruitment, for example 15 minutes per month for proactive outreach.

Tom Goettl, Vice President with Konik, a Technical Recruiting Company in Minneapolis focusing on architecture, engineering and manufacturing placements shares the employee perspective.  Tom has found that there are many factors that are causing the talent shortage.  The enhanced unemployment benefits have raised the minimum expected wages above $17.50 per hour for new talent.  There is anxiety about starting a new job, risk of infection, daycare shortages and higher expenses for daycare.  Below we share ideas on how you can get and keep new candidates’ interest.

What is New Talent Looking for:

1. Competitive Wages – You need to offer more than what your talent can collect on unemployment.  This needs to consider the additional expenses in daycare.  Remove the barriers that are prevent new talent from joining your team.
    
2. Looking for Purpose – Candidates want to find a purpose and be a part of something bigger than themselves or the business they are in.  They want to make a big impact in their company, the community and the great good.  Challenge yourself to evaluate your company’s vision and purpose.
    
3. Creating Change – They want to be a part of a company that is creating change with their customers, community, and company.  The company needs a clear vision on who and how they are helping.  Tell authentic stories that support your vision and how you are helping your community improve.
    
4. No more temporary positions – Candidates are looking for permanent direct hire opportunities and are not interested in starting in a temporary position.  They want to be in a secure position.
    
5. Ask about what they want – Candidates appear clear about what they want and what they are willing to do for it.  Ask them what they are hoping for in a company, position, income, and benefits.  Find out what the obstacles are and how you can overcome them.
    
6. Allow the time to process – Candidates are not ready to make quick decisions.  They are being more thoughtful before making changes.  They have had a year to self-reflect and re-evaluate their priorities. 
    
7. Consider geographic regions – Now that teams and companies are comfortable with working remotely, this has created a new consideration when offering a position to a potential candidate.  Wages can no longer be determined by region.  For example, candidates from a smaller region are getting hired by a larger region who is willing to pay much higher compensation.  This is something that will need to be considered to compete.

It is all about marketing…we are not just trying to market to new customers, we need to market for new talent as well.   An unexpected byproduct of the work you are doing to clarifying your message may produce new customer and talent relationships.  Good luck!