The New Year is in full swing and entrepreneurs, business owners and strategists, are all looking to level up their goals, but it’s a struggle without the support of a solid team of employees. Work-life balance, flexible scheduling and company culture are cited as the top reasons people left their employment and/or changed their careers in 2021. In addition, COVID continues to profoundly shift the workplace and employee’s needs. In fact, more than 4 million employees quit their jobs in April 2021 alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. How do you retain and recruit new employees this year?
The conundrum we find ourselves in is that while many of us are enjoying a healthy influx of new clients and projects, we are also having trouble finding skilled employees to service them. According to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, member companies of every size and industry across every state are facing unprecedented challenges trying to find workers to fill jobs.
Given this new reality, “Employment Marketing” has become an essential component of every business strategy.
So what exactly is Employment Marketing? It’s a strategic approach to promoting open job positions in a company. It requires businesses to target the right group of candidates, create tailored recruiting strategies and learn how to properly present their image and their strengths.
There are three core parts to an effective Employment Marketing Strategy:
- Review
- Retain
- Recruit
REVIEW
Before you delve into the issue of retaining or recruiting employees, it is imperative that you first review company (internal) data and environmental (external) data. The following are some fundamental topics and questions to consider when gathering and reviewing data:
- REMUNERATION: When it comes to wages, bonuses and incentives are you comparative and/or competitive in your particular industry and geographic markets?
- ROI: In the long run, it costs less to retain your present people than recruit new team members, so begin by analyzing the numbers to learn whether there is space or where you can make space in your budget to retain and invest more in your people.
- CULTURE & ENVIRONMENT: What is the state of your company culture? How do your employees feel about coming to work every day? How do they feel about their work environment generally? Seeing your business culture through their lens will enable you to make the changes necessary to implement effective programs and incentives focused on inspiring them and encouraging their long-term loyalty.
How do you find out? Distribute a survey that can be completed anonymously by your employees. Chat informally with your key people. See if they can help you paint a baseline upon which to measure your company’s culture today, including KPI’s that you can use to objectively compare against tomorrow.
Reviewing the status quo will provide the clarity necessary to understand a) where you need to make changes to improve your culture, and b) how and where you can beat the odds and stay above the competition when it comes to employee incentives, compensation and recognition.
RETAIN
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer in 2020 was 4.1. Median employee tenure was considerably higher among older workers than younger ones. For example, the median tenure of workers ages 55 to 64 (9.9 years) was more than three times that of workers ages 25 to 34 years (2.8 years). Also, a larger proportion of older workers than younger workers had 10 years or more of tenure. For example, among workers ages 60 to 64, 54 percent had been employed for at least 10 years with their current employer in January 2020, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 34.
How are your numbers? Are you doing a better job of retaining your employees than the average company? Are you having difficulty keeping your present employees? When an employee has left you in the past, have you spent the time necessary to understand why? Are your employees leaving their positions due to work-life imbalance, scheduling flexibility, company culture, wages, incentives or an undefined career path? If you keep hearing the same issues being discussed, changes are necessary.
Once you have analyzed the company’s current culture by surveying and listening to present and past employees and you have implemented all necessary changes, there should now be a solid foundation upon which to face the challenge of recruiting new employees.
It’s time for Employment Marketing to do its work.
RECRUIT
With a changing workforce must come a change in recruitment tactics. It is no longer enough to write up a job description and just run an ad. Look, we all use marketing tactics to generate awareness and support sales efforts by delivering leads, so given the tight labor market we are in, why not adapt those same marketing tactics we have used to promote products and services to recruit employees?
Target Market Just like you would define your target market for your products and services, we recommend you use marketing personas to define your target. Just rename them “employment personas.”
Company Description Ensure you have a well-written company description, one that defines your company, its leadership, its people, your products and services, as well as your goals for the future. It is imperative that a prospective employee gets a feel for the company culture well before stepping in the door to meet for an interview – this also saves everyone’s time and resources trying to decide whether “it’s a good fit.”
Website Update and upgrade your online presence to present your very best face. Is there a “Careers” section that sells your culture and features your satisfied employees? Remember that your website is your online credibility. Make sure it conveys your company correctly.
Social Media Ensure your social media is being used appropriately. Are you using the right platforms? Are your posts conveying what you need to convey – both to a present or prospective customer, but also to a present or prospective employee? Can your present employees give your company a positive review? Use the review in your social posts. Can you promote the longevity of your workforce in your posts? Include a picture of an employee with a caption indicating how long they’ve been with you.
Referral Can you use your present employees to bring fresh faces to the table? They’re your best salespeople. Motivate them with an incentive.
Advertise Are you advertising open positions? Where? LinkedIn is the biggest business social media platform in the world. Can it help you connect to people in the target group you have defined?
Interview Are you ready to undertake an interview when the leads come in? Get a slate of questions going. Get prepared for a remote interview – because of COVID this may have to be done over video chat.
Hire Do you have the necessary paperwork templates ready to go so that you can send your candidate a written job offer that properly outlines the job, their responsibilities, details about their compensation?
Onboarding When employees join your company are you ready with an onboarding program to ensure they are set up for success?
The pandemic continues to cause a significant shift in our business makeup, as well as changing employee values. As a leader of your organization, you must be tenacious and disciplined in keeping your fingers on the pulse of the business and its employees. In that way, you will be much better prepared to retain a position of leadership within the marketplace, no matter the challenges that may lie ahead.
We know that retaining and attracting top talent is vital to your business, but the process in today’s market requires a multi-faceted Employment Marketing strategy. Get in touch with us to learn how our experienced team can help you implement an effective Employment Marketing strategy that will get you results in 2022 and beyond.
Citations:
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “The America Works Report: Quantifying the Nation’s Workforce Crisis,” Published June 01, 2021, https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/education/the-america-works-report-quantifying-the-nations-workforce-crisis
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Economic News Release, Table 1. Median Years of Tenure with current employer for employed wage and salary workers by age, sex, selected years, 2010-2020, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.t01.htm
“The Great Resignation: An Analysis of Job Tenure Over the Years,” CapRelo, November 15, 2021, https://www.caprelo.com/insights-resources/industry-trends/the-great-resignation-an-analysis-of-job-tenure-over-the-years/
