Gastonia North Blog

Medical Device Recruiters

How to Staff Your Company in a Zero Unemployment Market

Job numbers are in. Unemployment dropped to a 50 year low of 3.6%, which is what experts consider zero unemployment. Yet companies are operating as if nothing has changed.

Maybe you’re like me. You think you can do it all, until one day you realize you’re killing yourself trying to do everything. Not to mention, you don’t have the expertise to do everything you’re trying to do.

Take it from me. Working harder and not smarter will do little to better your situation. Consider me your wake up call.

Here’s what I know. Companies can no longer rely on their HR teams to fill every job in the company. Heck, they’ve got jobs in their own department that they can’t even fill! Yeah, I know you’re hoping they’ll pull through for you. After all, you’re the one who keeps dropping donuts off in the HR department so they’ll remember you. However, this isn’t a sustainable plan, especially if half the team is on a weight loss program.

Here’s what I suggest you do instead.

You have to turn your entire team into a hiring machine. Imagine going to war by yourself. Sure, you’ve got a gun. However, it’s still you against a fully staffed army. Who in the end do you think will come out of this war standing?

Everyone in the company can and should be a recruiter. Yeah, you may be thinking that it takes a certain kind of personality to recruit. Your thinking is narrow. I’ve trained hundreds of people in the art of recruiting and know this can be done. Of course, the right systems have to be put into place. However, that’s easy to do.

You must dramatically shift your hiring strategy. I predict the unemployment number will go even lower. Yesterday’s recruitment strategies won’t work in today’s labor environment. You need to do something drastically different to achieve stellar results.

Here are a few ideas.

  • Target mature workers. For some crazy reason, they’re less in demand.
  • Examine your hiring process to decrease the bloat that’s slowing you down.
  • Turn hiring responsibilities (and accountabilities) back to the line. Remember, there’s a reason why these people are called “hiring managers.”
  • Hold hiring managers accountable for filling their jobs. Crazy idea, right? When you do so, you’ll find an interesting shift in the dynamics between your HR team and these managers. Miraculously, schedules of hiring managers open up and recruiters can get candidates in much faster. And in today’s hiring environment, speed matters a lot!
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Double down on your retention efforts. Let me ask you a question.

What’s the point of hiring great people if you can’t keep them?

We know fewer people are looking for jobs, right? This says to me that you need to do everything humanly possible to keep those whom you want to keep. I mean, it’s not like these people can be easily replaced, right?

I bet you have a pretty good sense of why people are leaving your company. What are you doing right now to change this? It’s sort of like losing weight. You know you need to make lifestyle changes, yet for some reason, you continue in the same way every day. Consider this. If you’re not moving forward, you’re falling behind.

I know it’s not rocket science. For many, it might as well be. Unlocking the formula for the attracting and retaining talent requires an individual approach. What works for global giants like GM or Facebook may not work for a mid-size firm. Not to mention, you may not be in a position to buy your way out of this situation, by offering higher salaries than everyone else around you. (Note: please don’t write to me and tell me money doesn’t matter. That’s only true of people who have money.)

I get that this can be overwhelming and that many of you will do nothing after reading this. Seems to be human nature. For the rest of you, here’s what I urge you to do.

Choose one thing that I’ve mentioned and drive this forward a mile, rather than moving three or four things forward an inch.

Write to me at Roberta@matusonconsulting.com and tell me what you’ve vowed to do. I’ll check back with you in a month to help you stay on course.

And for those of you who are serious about staffing your organizations, I invite you to consider my special offer.

Special Offer: I’m offering the first five executives who qualify, the opportunity to have me facilitate a conversation with your executive team on how to create a solar system of talent. We’ll do this in person or virtually. I’m offering this to you for free…no strings attached. Reach out to me at Roberta@matusonconsulting.com so we can explore if we’re the right fit for one another.