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A business can have the best tools and the ideal location to get bigger profits, but you can’t expect it to function properly without the right people. This is especially true for those who rely on skilled workers since there are fewer and fewer applicants these days, with people preferring to work in other industries. This makes the search for ideal hires even more difficult.
Quantity and Quality Hires Based on Skills
Finding the right worker for the job can be divided into two parts: attracting as many applicants as possible and then separating the good applicants from the great ones. That means you shouldn’t just focus on people’s education, you should also aim to get people with the right skills and experience. Even a non-college applicant can be a valuable asset later on, especially those who have had their skills assessed and credited through Recognition of Prior Learning programs.
So how do you make sure your company constantly receives applications from the right skilled workers? Here are a few tips that you can take into consideration:
- Make the Job Description to Be about the Applicants
Your company may have lost plenty of good hires even before they submitted their application if your job description isn’t attractive enough. According to studies, job descriptions that “demand” more from the applicants tend to attract fewer potential hires.
What does this mean? Instead of listing a job description that goes too much into detail about what you expect from the applicants, focus more on how applicants can benefit from taking the job. A good example of this is a job description that says the job would be a perfect starting point to develop the candidates’ careers, or one that talks about how successful applicants will get to work with equally talented people. Make it mostly about them.
- Make Your Company More Attractive to the Applicants
This may seem like a tall order (and it sometimes is), but another big reason why fewer people are interested in applying for jobs that require skilled work is that the company themselves aren’t worth working for. You don’t have to jump immediately to “bigger pay” or extra compensation; slight changes to make the environment a more encouraging workplace for your applicants could go a long way.
You have to accept the fact that skilled workers back then are different from skilled workers these days. With demand for new hires growing bigger at a steady rate, a worker can easily look for another company providing a better offer.
- Scout out Part-Timers
Hiring part-timers or on-the-job-trainees will not only let you have plenty of manpower in case your current workforce is in a pinch, it will also let you scout out talented individuals that you may consider hiring full-time later on. This is perfect if your company has plenty of short-term projects since you get to see results from them in just a few months.
The best part about this approach is that you already have an established relationship with potential hires even before they apply for the job, which means they may be more inclined to work for you instead of going to another company as soon as they’re ready to work full-time.
- Don’t Forget Personality
A person with outstanding relevant skills for the job may not be the best option if his secondary skills could cause an issue later on. For example, an applicant for a highly technical job may have the right skills and experience, but if their interpersonal skills could keep them from properly coordinating with other people, you might be better off hiring someone else.
It’s fine to pick someone that is at least decent in terms of the necessary skills if you can see that they have the personality to make up for it. Remember that skills can be acquired faster than it is to have someone adapt their personality to the job.
Looking for the right skilled workers requires taking the right approach. Keep these tips in mind and your company will have an easier time finding and nurturing skilled workers that will be more than willing to work for you.
