Recruiting in a tough market
We have all heard and know that a skill shortage is happening at the moment, and in Victoria alone, it has been predicted that we will face a shortage of almost 400,000 workers by 2025.* This is putting immense pressure on business owners and their managers to minimise disruption internally with disgruntled employees. The stress and anxiety of keeping colleagues and clientele happy with who they liaise with daily puts pressure on their job role by not having enough staff to share the load. We know every company is trying to keep everything going as best as possible whilst maintaining the revenue streams for the benefit of the business.
As such, we understand that the number one priority on every small and medium-sized enterprise’s (SMEs) agenda right now is how to keep their current staff while recruiting new staff. The traditional ways of using Seek, Indeed, LinkedIn, outsourced recruitment, or other similar methods are not working. As the market moves forward with more pressure on business owners, companies need to keep a positive mindset while they work out ways to attract new talent that they need to maintain, sustain and grow their company.
Like always in SMEs, good leaders, business owners, and managers are resilient. They are always looking to find ways to not only keep their current staff but also to attract new talent to join their company. It is most important to maintain a great company culture through these challenging times. Your leaders need to lead your team and create the best workplace possible for them, which will strengthen your recruitment and retention strategy for the future. They need to engage and empower their teams, where their staff can sell the role of the company they engage with and work for.
If your current recruitment strategy is not working, then KBA recommends trying some of the following:
- Create a Careers Open Day where you open the doors for a day, or a period of time, for job hunters to come and learn more about your company and the role without being heavily interviewed. You can then follow up on the expression of interest.
- Have your staff promote the role on social media.
- Have your customers sell your company and refer your job ads back to your positive Google Reviews. People want to work for companies that do meaningful work and deliver great customer outcomes.
- Offer staff flexibility, or a hybrid model, that works for your company. This needs to be on the radar, but it has to work for your trading hours to ensure you meet customer demands.
- Promise and deliver on a Fast Track Induction and Training Plans that upskill new employees over a shorter time.
- Share the Vision, your updated Business Plan, or Strategic Plan of where you are taking your company over the next 3, 6, 12, and 24 months and show staff where they are a part of it.
- Offer staff incentives to help with your recruiting strategy, like vouchers or a bonus.
- Look at onboarding staff who may have a disability but still have the capability to fulfil the job role. (There are employer incentives and conditions apply, so look into them)
The reason why SMEs need to recruit is for better revenue streams and output. If you have lost staff and your retention is poor, you need to work out why so you don’t live in a vicious circle in running your company. There may be underlying issues happening in your company that you are not aware of, which would need to be addressed. Everyone is trying to keep and grow their current staff whilst sourcing new talent. We are living in difficult times, and it appears that this is only going to get worse based on what the media tells us as times move forward. A big challenge moving forward is going to be when you employ new staff, how do you then keep them?
You need to ensure staff satisfaction is one of your KEY priorities. Company culture is everything, and you need to look at ways to create better engagement across the company that creates a positive impact for your staff. You may need to implement a new business strategy for 2023 for better engagement, understanding, and motivation. Conduct an employer or staff engagement survey, more training, and development, or a company or team outing just to have fun and thank you for being part of our team. Doing nothing achieves nothing. It could be as simple as being open and honest about how the company is performing and just appreciating their help and support.
At KBA, our team is passionate and motivated to help and support your company with recruitment and can support your company with this. We offer strategic planning, engagement surveys, personality profiling, and leadership, management, and sales training. We can help as an outsourced HR company that supports any HR issues or concerns. We prefer to work with businesses in doing proactive things that support the goals and objectives of your company. Our purpose is to take our clients on a journey through all aspects of employee engagement and performance. Through this process, this is how we take their business from good to great!
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At KBA we are a team that is very passionate about taking businesses from good to great. If you need help with business strategy, recruitment, or managing staff then contact us today!
If you would like help or want to know more about our services, please contact us at Key Business Advisors on 1300 4 ADVICE
* Victoria Skills Authority: https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiODAxZjRlYTEtZDk2Mi00Yjg3LTgyMjktODc4NzI3NmU2NmMyIiwidCI6ImQ5NmNiMzM3LTFhODctNDRjZi1iNjliLTNjZWMzMzRhNGMxZiJ9
