Strategies to attract talent when the labor market is pointing toward a persistent labor shortage

Despite the height of the pandemic being a few years behind us, the economy and labor market haven't fully recovered. While some industries are doing better than others and remote jobs are generally easier to fill nowadays than in-person ones, many employers in all fields are facing labor shortages.

This means that the market for top talent is more competitive than it's ever been in recent history, and companies that can't attract quality employees risk being left behind. Luckily, there are things you can do to improve your chances of attracting skilled and hard-working professionals for your open positions. These are some strategies that you can use to improve your organization's human capital despite the labor market shortage.

Make sure you know what you need and when you need it

Increasing efficiency is a wise thing to do when facing any type of shortage. This means that, when facing an upcoming labor shortage, you must identify your personnel needs. You can start by organizing your company's positions based on the likelihood that they'll soon need replacing and how challenging you anticipate finding a proper replacement will be.

For instance, if some of your employees are nearing retirement, you can plan ahead and determine whether you can promote from within or if you need to find someone from outside the company to fill those positions. Likewise, if statistics and personal experience tell you that a specific role takes more time to fill, you can be proactive and start the recruiting process as early as possible.

Have clear and objective standards and expectations for new employees

Being efficient also means knowing what you want. Just because quality employees are harder to come by doesn't mean that they're not out there. If you want to find them, you need to know exactly what to look for. When looking to hire someone for a specific position, it helps to perform a thorough analysis and discover exactly what you expect from a new recruit. You can separate the requirements into those that are absolutely crucial for the role and those that are desirable but not essential. This can help you differentiate between similarly skilled candidates.

You can also separate the skills you require from job candidates into those that you expect them to already have and those that you think they can develop on the job. This can help you expand your candidate pool to include those who may lack certain relevant skills but show a willingness and capacity to learn quickly.

Be creative with your recruitment sources

Simply posting a job opening on your company website and a few job boards may sometimes be enough, but you're also likely to miss out on top talent. Analyze how effective your candidate sourcing methods have been so far and try to add new ones. Some tips for expanding your recruitment scope include:

Find industry or role-specific job boards and use them to advertise your relevant open positions.
Look for in-person and virtual industry events, such as job fairs and networking opportunities.
Ask your existing staff for candidate recommendations and offer them rewards for successful referrals.
Use all online channels you have available to advertise your open position, including social media and industry-specific discussion forums.
Reach out to your local community and expand your search to areas such as local colleges and universities, non-profit organizations, and local media organizations to spread the word that you're hiring.

Create an attractive benefits package for your employees

When advertising your open positions, it helps to offer more than just a weekly paycheck. Modern employees tend to favor other perks besides a good salary. Creating benefits packages that resonate with employees will also help you retain your current talent pool, as it'll make your organization a better place to work. Some examples of benefits that you can offer existing and potential employees besides a regular paycheck include:

Extra financial incentives: You can make a position more attractive by offering performance-based bonuses. Create objective performance criteria and mention rewards, such as a one-time bonus for reaching a specific milestone, a salary increase for better-performing employees, stock options for loyal employees, and other similar ones.
Non-financial benefits: There are many benefits you can add to help make a role more attractive. People seeking full-time employment are often attracted by perks, such as medical and dental insurance, retirement plan contributions, mental health support, and childcare assistance, to name a few.
More time off: Offering an appropriate work-life balance may also help you expand your candidate pool. You can mention benefits such as extra days off, work-from-home opportunities, and shorter hours on specific occasions.
Professional development: Candidates may also be attracted by a workplace that will help them advance as professionals. Mention your commitment to helping your staff develop their skills through pursuing certifications and attending industry-specific events.
Other attractive benefits: You can also get creative with the benefits you offer your staff based on what you think would resonate with job candidates. For instance, if the role is likely to attract younger people, perks such as concert tickets and gym memberships may work in your favor.

"The market for top talent is more competitive than it's ever been in recent history, and companies that can't attract quality employees risk being left behind. Luckily, there are things you can do to improve your chances of attracting skilled and hard-working professionals for your open positions."

Work on enhancing your image as an employer

Besides creating a more attractive role, you can also work on making your organization more desirable to candidates. Start by building a cohesive company culture, which is similar to an individual's personality. It refers to the practices, behaviors, attitudes, standards, goals, values, and expectations that make an organization unique.

Once you clearly define the company's culture, you can use it in your job advertisement efforts to show potential candidates that your business is a great place to work. This can also help improve recruitment efficiency, as employees who align with your company culture are more likely to stay loyal and work for you over the long term.

Make it easy to apply

Getting qualified candidates to apply for your open positions is the most important part of successful hiring in a labor shortage. You have to build an application and interviewing process that's as easy and straightforward as possible. Overly complicated application processes may put off some job seekers, so limit your job application form to essential information. Limit your application to those skills, qualifications, and educational milestones that are absolutely essential for the role. You can filter them further later on based on desirable but non-essential criteria.

You can also streamline your interviewing process. Remember that a job interview is a two-way street: the candidate is trying to convince you that they have the right qualities, but you're also trying to convince them that your company is a great place for them to work and develop as a person and a professional. Ask specific questions to determine how suitable the candidate is for that specific role, but don't forget to showcase the advantages of working for your organization. Doing this can be essential, as high-quality candidates are likely to pursue multiple open positions at a time.

Facing this market challenge can be your chance to improve the ways your company attracts talent in a labor shortage. Knowing what you're looking for in an employee, creating an attractive benefits package, creating a positive image for your company, and making it easy for candidates to apply are some of the most important steps you can take to get an edge over your competition.