How to Attract New Skilled Trades Candidates During a Labor Shortage
Due to the well-documented labor shortage across the country, it has never been more challenging to find skilled trades candidates for your open roles. This means conducting recruiting business as usual isn’t going to be enough. If you’re looking to attract high-quality candidates for your skilled roles, follow these strategies.
Conduct Multi-Day Job Fairs
Single-day job fairs can be effective, but skilled tradespeople who are currently employed may not be able to make it to a one-day event. Hold job fairs over the course of several days—including weekends and evenings—to attract as many people as possible.
Create Apprenticeships and Internships
The best way to ensure your employees have the skills you need is to train them directly. Partner with local schools to offer internships and apprenticeships that allow students and graduates the opportunity to get hands-on experience while providing your organization with a great crop of new employees to work with.
It’s also a great idea to open apprenticeships to other employees in your organization who might be interested in learning new skills. Investing in their futures helps you retain great people and ensures you will be upskilling reliable employees on important jobs.
Build a Great Employee Referral Program
Referral programs reward your existing employees for referring a talented candidate who ultimately gets hired and stays with the company for a predetermined period of time. Employee referrals have the best closing ratio of applications to hires and referred employees have a higher rate of job satisfaction and a longer retention rate than employees hired through more traditional recruiting channels.
Employee referrals can also be a great thermometer for employee satisfaction. If none of your employees are willing to refer candidates to the company, it could be a sign that you have morale and/or culture issues that need to be addressed.
Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits
This should go without saying, but unfortunately, many employers underpay their skilled labor force. If you want to attract better candidates in a competitive market, you will need to make it worth their time. This is especially true if a job requires long hours, unpopular shifts, dangerous work conditions or outdoor conditions in summer or winter.
Make sure you have a handle on what your local competitors are paying for similar jobs and adjust your offers as necessary. It is also important to offer strong benefits packages: healthcare is a high priority for workers today, as is flexible scheduling, sick and vacation pay, and work-life balance. If you’ve been cutting corners in the benefits department, you could be losing talent.
Ready to Find Top Skilled Talent? Contact The Reserves Network!
If you are looking to access more applicants, improve the quality of your hires and remained fully staffed, contact the experts at The Reserves Network today.
