What You Need to Know About Hiring During Talent Shortages

Recruitment and hiring involve many challenges, and a talent shortage may be among the most significant. For many reasons, there are often periods of time when hiring managers in various industries struggle to find candidates who can fill key roles. In 2019, a report by Gartner revealed that talent shortages were the top emerging risk concern for executives from organizations around the world.

However, the fact that you may be struggling to find suitable candidates doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Talented people are out there. There may be a weakness in your sourcing and recruiting strategies — review your processes with a critical eye to see if there are any gaps that might need your attention. To begin, focus on the following points.

Tweak Your Social Media Strategy

Social media can be a pain point for some organizations’ sourcing strategies. Make sure that you’re targeting the right social media channels for the positions you’re hiring for. LinkedIn is often treated as a given; some 87 percent of recruiters use LinkedIn, according to an Adweek survey. However, the best social network for recruiting depends on who you’re targeting.

For example, what if you’re trying to fill skilled trade positions? Studies indicate that the majority of skilled tradespersons are over the age of 45. Meanwhile, Facebook was once thought of as a young person’s network, but the site’s user base is aging. Fifty-two percent of people ages 50–64 use Facebook, and older adults represent the site’s fastest-growing demographic. And while LinkedIn has a disproportionately wealthy user base, Facebook is the most popular social network in working class households. These numbers suggest a Facebook recruiting strategy would be more effective when hiring for this position.

Keep a Database of Applications

A former candidate who ultimately wasn’t offered a job at your company isn’t always a weak candidate. They simply might not have been the best person for the role, and they may be interested in another job at your company in the future. Instead of forgetting about old candidates, you should create a database with their information.

You can use your applicant tracking system (ATS) to create this talent pool. Be mindful that any talent database is only useful when you maintain it well. Put good data in, and you’ll get good results. In addition, a quality ATS will have a robust candidate search function so you can easily find candidates using keywords and a variety of filters. You can also take steps to keep this talent pool engaged and on positive terms with your organization — for example, by sending regular email updates, or even hosting recruiting events.

Examine Your Referral Program

One of the top sources of high-quality candidates is referrals. The 2018 North American Staffing & Recruiting Trends Report indicated that 29 percent of staffing professionals ranked “referrals from successful placements” as the top source for candidates. If you don’t have a referral program, now is the time to implement one.

If you already have a referral program, but it’s not delivering the results you want, examine it closely. Do you offer sufficient incentives to current employees? Do people know about your referral program — have you advertised it internally? Do you communicate with employees who have referred someone? According to one consultant interviewed for an article for the Society for Human Resource Management, the top reason employees do not use their company’s referral program is that they become frustrated with a lack of communication from the company. The employee refers someone, and then doesn’t hear anything from the company for months — if at all. After that, the likelihood of their offering another referral is low. One way to fix this issue would be to invest in an automated referral platform that ensures employees and their referrals both receive email updates throughout the process.

Consider In-House Talent

Just as current employees can be a great source of referrals, they can also make excellent candidates themselves. Every single time you need to fill a role, it’s worth considering whether a current employee may be qualified for it. Hiring in-house helps you save time and money. It also signals to your employees that those who perform well may have the chance to climb the ladder. This has been shown to boost engagement.

You won’t be able to fill all positions with in-house talent. There will be instances when you need to hire entirely new employees. However, during talent shortages, your current workforce can serve as a helpful resource.

Leverage the Gig Economy

It may not always be necessary to fill open positions with full-time employees. The rise of the gig economy has created an environment where companies often hire contractors on a part-time basis. Consider this option if you’re struggling to find candidates willing to accept full-time positions at your organization.

Be Flexible

If you can’t find qualified job candidates, it’s possible your hiring criteria is too strict. Someone who doesn’t meet all your expectations might nevertheless be a strong employee. For example, maybe their last job title isn’t a match for the position in question, but they still have all the capabilities needed to succeed in the role. When you can’t find talent to fill a role, take the time to determine if your standards are too high, too specific, or too focused on attributes and qualifications that aren’t really that important.

Keep these points in mind if you ever face a shortage of strong job candidates. Additionally, you may want to consider working with outside help when recruiting certain employees, particularly high-value, C-suite and executive roles. An executive search firm can help in this capacity, identifying qualified candidates, even during periods when it seems such individuals are nowhere to be found.