By Lindsay Macintosh, CHRP

The ability to change recruiting strategies fast enough to meet the demands of technological and labour market changes is a major challenge facing today’s employers.  Employers must carefully analyze their current recruiting strategies, develop flexible recruiting plans, and look beyond traditional recruiting paths such as Craigslist, Monster, job fairs, and Help Wanted signs.

Employers must analyze recruitment challenges and opportunities by examining current and future labour market trends and develop recruitment strategies based on current and future labour supply and demand. Moreover, they need to develop a clearly defined recruitment plan with procedures for attracting, interviewing and hiring candidates that is flexible enough to succeed amidst ongoing changes.

Changing the Face of the Workplace
With looming labour shortages, employers cannot afford to overlook any segment of the talent pool and need to look at under-utilized groups such as immigrants, women, aboriginals, and people with disabilities. Diversity provides the opportunity for the innovations and creativity which are invaluable to today’s organizations.

According to Work B.C.’s report, “An Action Plan to Address B.C.’s Critical Skills Shortages”, over one million jobs openings are projected over the next 10 years.  In addition, British Columbia could face skills shortages as high as 510,000 if no action is taken. This could result in a decline in GDP due to unfilled vacancies and lagging productivity.

Many projected job openings will be in the skilled trades sectors.  Women still make up a small percentage of the skilled trades workforce. Organizations must take a leadership role to go after a wider talent pool by encouraging women to consider skilled trades as a first choice career option and breaking down the “old boys” perception.  Government, industry, and community based organizations must collaborate to develop media campaigns that advertise the benefits of careers in the skilled trades, specifically for women and other under-utilized groups.

More Effective Means Available
To increase their pools of talent and find the right candidates to fill positions in today’s changing workplace, it is essential that employers look at non-traditional alternative means of recruitment. Today, it is not enough to rely on job boards and other traditional recruiting methods.  Employers must use a wide variety of sources and be creative in their recruiting.

Alternative methods of recruiting include:

• actively seek talent in unusual places—events that are not job fairs such as IT professionals Meetup groups, social media clubs, and sports/social events;
• use YouTube or other non-traditional recruiting media to convey your organization’s culture and work environment;
• search profiles and social networking sites, i.e. LinkedIn;
• advertise in places frequented by the type of candidate your are seeking;
• consider past candidates – former rejections could make great hires;
• engage employees in your recruiting process; and
• increase awareness of your organization by reaching out to professional associations, schools, government programs, and community based organizations.

Explore Communities (Online and Otherwise)
Community-based organizations that represent and provide services to under-utilized groups are a good source for recruitment. Collaborating with community-based organizations to develop workshops, training to prepare for apprenticeships, and support groups will help employers tap into under-utilized groups.

Online communities are a great place to target your recruitment process at a specific group.  If you are looking for someone to fill a graphic design position, try searching for graphic design forum.  You will be surprised at the multiple places just for graphic designers where you can advertise your job vacancy.

Referrals by good old word of mouth are another great source of hires.  Let people know that you are looking for someone to fill an open position.  The children’s soccer games, your Meetup groups, on the bus, at the super market, your hiking group, the list goes on and on, are effective recruiting avenues.  Engage your employees by asking them to bring referrals.

Search the Globe as Required
Be specific about the skills required, be informed as to competitive compensation, and do not hesitate to expand the scope of your search as needed.

“Our staff is required to be perfect every single day. In order to find kitchen staff that is best suited for Blue Water Café, the chef scouts around the world for candidates. We believe that competency is important and key for fine dining,” says Stephan Cachard, GM of Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar in Vancouver’s Yaletown. “We hire experienced staff with specific skills in fine dining, seafood, wines, and beverages.”

In addition to the company website and Craigslist, Blue Water Café uses other methods of recruitment.  Cachard adds, “We have students come in to work for a day or two days a week for a couple of months to see what it takes to work in fine dining and whether or not they are suited.”

In Closing: Open Up
Traditional methods of recruiting often result in receiving too many applications which take a lot of time to go through and poses limits to the careful selection process.  Alternatively, non-traditional methods can widen or narrow the pool of candidates as required and prove more cost effective. They also offer greater flexibility and allow employers to become more effective in finding and hiring the best candidates possible.

Lindsay Macintosh, CHRP has over 20 years experience in payroll and benefits in the retail, food service, and logging industries.

(PeopleTalk Summer 2013)