You’ve heard the news for months: “There is a war on for talent” and in fact, 40% of employers say they struggled to find talented candidates to fill jobs in 2016. But why is that? As we embark on another New Year, ETS is giving you insight into the employment climate of 2017 with our 3 part blog series The Impact: 2017 Employment Trends.
In Part 3 – 5 to Thrive – ETS Business Intelligence Analyst, Billy Davis, concludes our series with five actionable items to help combat the employment challenges for 2017 and keep your company on a path to growth and success.
1.) Create a solid plan for retention built on workplace culture and employee engagement. To assess your company culture it’s important to become a listener and observer. Look around and ask yourself how do my employees act, what do they do, what do they say? Creating a positive company culture takes ongoing and consistent contributions, but these efforts will result in elevated productivity and performance.
2.) To improve turnover rates it’s important to have your finger on the pulse of the company, paying close attention to attrition rates and taking action when you see an unfavorable trend. When an employee does leave, conduct a judgement free exit interview to start gathering data on why your employees are moving on to new opportunities.
3.) Attract talent using your employer brand. Ask yourself, “Why would a candidate want to work for me?” If your answer relies mostly on compensation or benefits, ask yourself again, “Are these offerings drastically different from those of my competitors?” Chances are, they’re relatively similar. This means that you need to find new, creative ways to appeal to your candidates in order to differentiate yourself.
4.) It’s clear that it’s getting harder to find qualified employees in the current market, but that doesn’t mean you should lower your standards. Instead, you should think of new ways to win the war for great talent. That means it might be time to re-evaluate how you hire. No detail is too small when it comes to attracting talent to your company. Writing a job ad, even a job title can make a big difference. Looking at your screening process is helpful too. Is it so stringent that it’s nearly impossible for a candidate to penetrate it? It’s time to take some chances on potential employees who may “almost” fit the bill but may be missing a couple of requirements. Ask yourself “can we train this person?” Does this person seem like a lifelong learner? If the answer is yes, take a chance, you probably won’t regret it. Using ETS as a resource can be invaluable in this effort. We meet more people each week than any hiring manager can meet in any given quarter. Let us do the legwork so you can concentrate on just meeting the best.
5.) Partner with ETS to gain customized insight and powerful data driven solutions that include:

  • Marketplace Data: Find out what is happening on a micro and macro level in regards to payscale, shift, position, and other valuable industry trends.
  • Turnover Analysis: Not only can ETS provide your company with information about quits and terminations, but we have the ability to uncover the elusive ‘whys’. See where you stand amongst your peers and industry averages – then in conjunction with ETS make strategic changes for improvement, tracking your progress along the way.
  • Candidate Funnel and Marketing Engine: Working within a wide scope of disciplines, positions and industries, ETS has developed a deep talent pool of people with unique skill sets and backgrounds. Gain access to this database, as well as access to our comprehensive marketing. We pour resources into the latest and greatest candidate sources to attract active and passive talent.

Now, more than ever, business leaders need strategic insight and the ability to understand how current trends impact revenue and profits — quickly and accurately.
Want to know more? ETS can give you a personal in-depth analyses of current hiring trends for the Champlain Valley. To set up a meeting, give us a call at 518.562.4673.