5 Strategies to Survive the Current Employment Crisis

Its basic knowledge to most employers, that we’re in an employment crisis of unprecedented severity due to several factors out of our control. These factors include the challenge of school closures and sporadic scheduling, generous unemployment benefits, and relief payments, and possibly even a fear many have to go back into the workforce.

Whatever the reason, it is making it extremely difficult to find and hire qualified employees, especially at lower-wage positions.

We’ve got 5 easy tips to make the most of your hiring efforts and hopefully move the needle in your favor:

#1 Be seen and be heard

As the economy gets back to where it was pre-pandemic, you, along with hundreds of employers in your area are trying to hire the few people that are looking for work. Somehow, you’ve got to be seen and heard. Here are a few ways to get more awareness of your open positions.

• Use multiple job boards, don’t just rely on Indeed or Zip Recruiter.
• Use Social media to point people to your job posts.
• Speak with friends and family, let people know you’re hiring.
• Consider holding a hiring event at your place of business or maybe a pizza restaurant or other public establishment that gets good visibility.
• Offer referral bonuses to your existing employees and even through social media.

Bottom line: The old ways are not enough right now. You need to be aggressive in your hiring activities.

#2 Be an Employer of Choice

Employees that are looking and able to work, have their pick of the litter. What is going to differentiate you from other businesses that are trying just as hard as you to attract candidates? Bigger businesses can out-pay and out benefit you, but not everyone wants to work for big corporations.

When it comes to perks and great working conditions, if you have them, flaunt them. Highlight the best your small business has to offer. If you don’t have them, get some. Talk about what you provide that’s special and makes your workplace a place where people want to work.

• Flexible working conditions
• Benefits – maybe work on inexpensive benefits if you don’t have any now. Plenty of options available.
• Company lunches, free snacks, bonus programs, free car washes, gym memberships, mobile massage, whatever you can make work and adds value to your employees.

Bottom line: Employees today look at work more as a lifestyle choice rather than just a job. Workplaces need to evolve in order to attract the future workforce.

#3 Elephant in the Room

Forces beyond your control have been pushing pay rates up for years now. Even before Covid, there was a labor shortage in 2019 caused by an on-fire economy. These forces include big corporations that can afford to pay more, state-sponsored minimum wage, and politicians pushing a “living wage”. Now it’s actual government checks paying people over $18 NOT to work.

These forces have created the perfect storm, and now, you must decide whether you will raise your own pay rates or find other ways to increase production, like overtime, automated systems, etc.

• Simple solution, raise rates where you can.
• Can you pay a temporary Covid pay bonus? Not as easy as it sounds, always harder to decrease payback to where it was.
• Performance incentives plans? Putting in place a strategic performance plan can tie increased pay to productions, performance, or profit.

Bottom line: Along with the pressure to increase pay rates comes inflation and consumer prices. Both are inching up, so will it be possible to increase your prices? This will have to be on every business owner’s mind.

#4 Avoid Bad Hires

With desperation for employees comes the temptation to hire candidates that are not necessarily qualified or may show other red flag signs that you before, you might have rejected outright. Now is a bad time to drop your standards.

A bad hire now can hurt you far more than it might help with labor claims, injuries, or lawsuits, so be diligent in your hiring practices.

• Be detailed in your job descriptions, make sure you leave little room for interpretation.
• Set up an initial phone screen right away if someone responds to an ad.
• Ask knockout questions right up front before you schedule a Zoom or in-person interview.
• Have questions ready, as open-ended questions, and make sure you have a good fit.
• You will need to sell your company a little more than in the past. Again, flaunt what you have.
• Use lots of communication to cut down on ghosting.

Bottom line: It is hard enough to get candidates to respond to your ads, when you have them in front of you, make the most of that time.

#5 Retention as a Hiring Strategy

As hard as you’re fighting for employees, so are other business owners in your area or industry. Your employees are targets for other employers to peel off using higher wages, better benefits, closer commute, etc. protecting what you have is key to survive this labor crisis.

Add benefits if you have none now – 401k, health or dental, flexible work hours.

Review your pay rates compared to your industry, minimum wage, your competitors.

Engage with your employees – do what you can to understand their lives and how they’ve been impacted by Covid.

Bottom line: Be the best employer you can be, make it a deliberate part of your efforts.