Since I ended up going with a more appropriate title, rather than something that would have toed the line a bit, let’s jump right in. We just looked at the importance of telling the right story, and that’s so important, but we still need to make sure we can provide great candidates with something more tangible to get them in the door!

Those of us who are blessed to live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia may not always realize how great our job market has historically been. In addition to many great companies having production facilities up and down the I-81 corridor, and the poultry industry that provides work for thousands and feeds tens of millions, we’ve seen booming markets in nearly every other field as well. The cost of living is quite a bit lower than most bigger cities and unemployment is nearly always well below the national average. 

All of those things make the area attractive to many folks who end up being amazing employees, but it also makes for an extremely competitive hiring market for nearly all of the local employers! With many skill sets being transferable from one company to the next, a common approach to attracting recruiting candidates is to simply beef up the wage and benefits package, just a hair above the company down the street where the talent you’re looking for works currently, and advertise like there’s no tomorrow… Doing this certainly gets some attention. And in some cases, it even reels in some really talented employees from other companies. But if someone joins our team just because we offered more money, what do you think will happen when someone else offers then a little bit more?

Don’t misunderstand my point here; total compensation is always a factor when great team members are making decisions on which organization they want to be part of, but it’s definitely not the only factor! When I was hiring hundreds of people each year in a manufacturing environment, compensation and relative stability were the primary selling points. There was a time when that facility offered more intangibles, which we’ll cover shortly, but most of those were long gone by the time I was given responsibility for filling the open positions. I could offer several dollars more on the hour for even the most basic skill sets but I had to be very transparent about the massive amounts of overtime that would be required, the potential for being on an off shift for several years, and the tremendous heat during the summer months. When the management team actually treated team members like human beings, that wasn’t a terribly hard sell. After quite a bit of turnover in management and new bosses who had no use for fraternizing with the minions, keeping positions filled became a bit more complicated…

For the next several years, I helped smaller, locally owned companies fill their open positions. While their pockets weren’t typically as deep in regards to pay and benefits, most were able to offer something the typical corporate culture seems to have moved away from: an environment of appreciation. In most cases, the hourly wage starts out a bit lower but can increase rapidly as skills develop. Benefits are usually fair, but not quite like the big companies. However, a small company almost always provides a family feel that’s hard to match! The newest employee becomes part of that from the beginning, often interacting with the owner during the interview process or within a few days of being hired. They’re not just a number! 

The other significant intangible benefit actually becomes very tangible, very quickly… Most of those smaller companies need team members to develop quickly so they’re very intentional about helping the newest people get exposure to new tasks and working with them to increase their skills. When this is shared with a candidate from the beginning of the recruitment process, in addition to the family atmosphere, the opportunities for future growth and advancement can quickly outweigh a little bit more on the paycheck initially. Factor in a better quality of life, a fair degree of flexibility, and being willing to treat someone like a human being rather than a robot, you may be offering far more than the competition even without making it rain…

We can’t just say this as part of the recruiting process though, it has to be what we deliver! We have to provide a clear path for growth and development, financially and professionally. Then we have to deliver on the follow through!

Action Speaks Louder Than Words!

When we’re truly interested in learning how to improve the recruiting process in our organization, we need to be willing to commit to taking action quickly with potential candidates. If we prove unresponsive from the very beginning, some of the best potential team members may quickly get the impression that this is what they can expect even after they join the company. When we paint a great picture of all the opportunities we can provide but don’t back it with the action to match, all our effort crafting that message can be lost.

Before we go deeper into that though, let’s circle back to something I just touched on... I mentioned how smaller companies often need team members to develop quickly since each person represents a larger percentage of the total. This can have a significant impact on career growth and retention, and ties very closely with improving the recruiting process. But when the management team in a bigger organization really accepts leadership responsibility and serves their team members this same way, news of this travels fast, in the company and throughout the surrounding community! I’m sure you can guess how that plays into recruiting strong candidates…

So why does taking action and being responsive matter in the recruiting process? In addition to sending a message as to what a candidate can expect after joining our team, we also need to be prepared to take action quickly if we want to have a real shot at even talking with the best candidates. In the odd scenario when someone with great talent is actually between jobs, it’s extremely unlikely that they will be for long. Sometimes waiting just a day or two after they’ve submitted their resume can result in missing any chance at all we had at speaking with them. When great folks are in the job market, that news typically travels fast. While they may not be hired immediately, it’s not uncommon for them to get multiple offers quickly. And if they're just testing the waters, hesitation on our part could create a red flag with them.

Once we’ve developed a system for being responsive and taking prompt action in the initial conversations with our candidates, and we get really good at bringing excellent team members into our organizations, we can’t take our foot off the throttle! Promising growth and development sounds great in an interview but allowing that to take a backseat to the daily pressure of production can sour someone’s hope for advancement quickly. And being responsive can’t end with the orientation process. When team members have questions, concerns, or even ideas for process improvements, each person with leadership responsibility within our team needs to be as responsive! 

In each stage of the employment relationship, the action a leader takes, the way they respond to their team, and the priority they place on following through sends a message to each person around them. When this is done intentionally, that message builds a reputation that genuinely improves the recruiting process for our entire company. When our actions don’t match our words, that definitely impacts the recruiting process too, and each person on our team with any level of leadership responsibility plays a part in this! If you’d like to build a culture where attracting and retaining great team members becomes simple, you should reserve a spot the next time Cindy and I offer our complimentary webinar on How Top Leaders Set the Tone for Recruitment and Retention...