"We're Short Staffed"

“We’re short-staffed.”

Who’s heard this or said this recently? Every business is experiencing a shortage of employees. Whether it’s because of turnover or not knowing where to find qualified applicants, it’s a challenge employers are facing. And if employers can’t find qualified candidates or hold on to good employees, they’re going to lose customers. 

I’ve been through some challenging job markets, but this one is “weird” (as I heard one person describe it). Nationwide, we are experiencing lowered unemployment and there’s been high job growth, so there are more jobs than there are applicants. In Gallatin Valley where I live, there are 2.8 open jobs for every applicant. Yes, I would say it’s weird.

I work with employers to help solve worker shortages by focusing on the employee experience and increasing employee retention. Instead of the revolving door of recruit, onboard, and offboard, employers can retain employees and focus on growing their business because they have an engaged workforce that wants to stick around. 

But, employers can’t retain employees if they don’t have employees. Employee retention starts with reviewing recruiting and interviewing practices. 

Reviewing all of your Human Resources Practices, focus on the areas that have a high impact on your employee retention. 

Review Recruiting Practices:

Review job postings

• Do job postings attract people to apply?

• Do they reflect the Company’s values?

• Do job postings accurately describe the job expectations and responsibilities?

• Is the application easy to complete? 

• Is the application process long?

• What recruiting sources do you use?

• Do you post your jobs with veterans groups? Moms Groups? Community Based Organizations? Local Job Services? Other groups that you can recruit from but aren’t?

• Are you posting your jobs in one place? Or do you use multiple sites?

• Recruiting is Marketing. Does your recruiting match your branding?

Review Interviewing Practices:

• What kinds of questions do you ask during the interview?

• Are the questions job related?

• Do you ask the same/similar questions to every applicant?

• Is the hiring manager involved in the interview process?

• Is the hiring manager/interviewer trained in proper interviewing techniques?

• Does the interviewer make a job offer based on quantifiable information from the interview? Or just go with their gut?

• Do you try to trip people up during the interview? Or do you have an honest conversation?

• Do your actions during the interview align with Company Values?

After the Interview:

Communicating with the candidate after the interview is an important part of the interview process. After the interview, let the candidate know what the next steps are and when they should expect to hear back from you. Let the candidate know your decision one way or another. Candidates prefer to hear that they were rejected for the job rather than be ghosted.

When you extend a job offer to a candidate, be clear about the job expectations during the job offer phase. If you can, put the offer in writing.

By creating a great candidate experience, you help to create a great employee experience. And that is on the way to increasing employee retention. 

Reach out to me at anne@donovanhrsolutions.com to schedule a discovery call today. We can discuss what a full Human Resources assessment and how to identify high-impact areas of employee retention.