Pulse Check: How are we doing? Businesses are gearing up. The companies that survived the pandemic have built a resiliency that makes them more agile and compatible with the “X-from-home” lifestyles of current consumers. And just in time, as the social sentiment within personal and professional lives alike is not to be idle – do something. After a year of stagnation and separation, a clear people priority is to not waste time.
In the work arena, this has created a business ecosystem where many companies are actually flourishing. From companies in Poughkeepsie and beyond, businesses that work with other businesses or directly with consumers are seeing a pace of growth that exceeds even pre-pandemic times. Staffing, hiring, and recruiting are ramping up as companies go back into the office, and plans for record-level growth are set forth. It’s an exciting time to participate in the working population because people are ready to work.
5 Tips for staying competitive in the current hiring landscape
- Refresh your careers page on the company website. Have any good company stories from the pandemic, or a few? Post them on the recruiting site, testimonial style. After a year like we’ve all had, there’s nothing wrong with sharing personal anecdotes about how your team made it through together. Update the careers page with team photos, or add some in if they don’t exist already. The pandemic showed us our humanity, and it’s only appropriate to acknowledge that collective experience as we transition into a modified normal.
- Maximize employee benefits. Check with your benefits broker to see if they can improve your rate or offerings based on the current demographics of the company. This is an annual exercise for the HR team that should be routinely performed to ensure that your employees get the best possible benefits package.
- Take control of your Glassdoor and LinkedIn Careers page. We live in a world where sometimes, only jobs posted on Linkedin seem valid, and Glassdoor reviews skew judgment calls. Building up your employer reputation not only gets you more applicants but better quality applicants at that.
- Understand the role that you’re hiring for and cater to it. Different roles require different strategies. Recruiting a warehouse worker looks differently than recruiting an accountant, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with the numerous strategies available. This may include other sourcing channels, interview assessments, and different time horizons. Even though remote work eliminates multiple traditional barriers to talent outside of your region, it’s still important to know how you rank within your region. Whether it is by company size, industry, or business growth, be clear on what you offer versus competitors of similar categories. From there, you can hone in on your strengths to provide a competitive offering that is sustainable to your company.
- Hire diversity. Diversity hiring is an intentional step by the senior leadership team to hire diversely if the team isn’t diverse already. Research shows that Diversity and Inclusion have tangible benefits from a business standpoint, including better products, higher revenues, increased profitability, and enhanced employee retention. From the standpoint of humanity, it’s simply the right thing to do – giving the non-obvious a chance. Read more about what employers can do to bake D&I into their company culture.
At SMART Staffing Group, Inc., we have decades of combined experience in staffing and leadership coaching. We’ve partnered with organizations of all sizes and industries in the Tri-State area to advance talent and recruiting strategies. Staying competitive requires a clear business plan that involves a strong people-centered tenant. We are a proudly Certified Minority and Woman-Owned business that has served Poughkeepsie, NY, since 2014.
