Trouble Recruiting Talent?

Source: Connecting for Results
Author: Bob Dale, Heather Black, and Phil Klugman (Guest Post)

Top five hiring practices to attract the best in industry

If 2022’s biggest hurdle was supply chain issues, then 2023 is going to be bench strength. Today’s candidates are doing their due diligence on the companies they are considering, such as asking peers, searching social media platforms, and checking LinkedIn, Glassdoor, etc. It’s important owners clearly understand their current company culture and make the necessary improvements. Your offer must be more attractive than your competitor’s, so here are the top five things to do.

1. Define your company’s brand strategy

• What is your company’s value proposition?
• Why work here? Is it ‘fun’?
• What is your onboarding process, from interview to first day on the job?
• What is your plan to make the company more diverse and inclusive?
• Make your opportunity exciting because if you’re not thrilled about your company, how will someone else be.
• Differentiators may be more than price, quality, and service. One reason an employee was attracted to our firm was due to our ‘corporate social responsibility’ programs.

2. What are your expectations and how will there be support for them to succeed?

• While you may be looking for a ‘self-starter,’ new employees require information, tools, and guidance to succeed.
• Why do staff want to help customers and contribute to your company’s success?
• Younger employees may need more social support because they missed the level of social interaction they had at school. Offering department managers more discretion and a small budget for monthly or quarterly pizza lunches boosts morale.

3. Is there a career path for the right candidate?

• What learning and development opportunities does your company offer? Young people would appreciate the opportunity to diversify rather than be stuck at one role.

4. Pay equity transparency

• Young workers will share pay information, so develop a formal salary structure.
• Historically, the perception is that labour is the most controllable variable in the accountant’s arsenal. However, human resource does not provide that form of guarantee or direct RO, and a strong business case can be made for fair wages.
• Consider a leveraged compensation model that is similar to sales plans with goals, shared risk, incentives and rewards for high performers. Take into account individual and team contributions when planning compensation programs.

5. Early discussions with prospective employees must include life/work balance

• This can be demonstrated before initial engagement and be as simple as an email tagline. We know printers whose email messages convey information about respecting employees’ personal time or highlighting they work four-day work weeks and providing details to reach them after work hours.
• As with successful sports teams, many championships are won due to motivation that focus on teamwork and not individual skills.

While these recommendations may appear to shift the company’s priorities on the newest employees, these are all best practices that are important to achieve long-term success. These suggestions may come with a price tag that must be reflected in your cost of doing business.

As seen in the March/April 2023 issue of PrintAction

“The mission of Canadian Print Scholarships is to attract the brightest and best students available to the graphic communications industry by providing financial assistance to enroll and continue in a post-secondary management or technical program at an approved institution.”

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