Effective Talent Acquisition: Adapting Approaches to Fill Vacancies Now
A hot topic in the job market is a global talent shortage. Companies across various industries say that they are struggling to find skilled workers and unable to fill vacant positions. Despite their job postings receiving hundreds of applicants, there are apparently not enough people qualified and capable to meet the expectations of hiring managers and recruiters.
On the other hand, unemployed individuals are desperate to find work. They are applying to hundreds of jobs with little to no response across multiple job platforms. They are spending hours entering their information onto various sites and uploading resumes to be parsed onto ATS systems.
Although a talent shortage would be a convenient explanation for why filling positions is becoming increasingly difficult, the high rates of applicants in open positions does not support this. A more likely reason is that there is a gap in the current skill set available in the job market and what is being required by companies and their inability to adapt.
Currently, there is a clear barrier in converting these applicants to employees that is caused by the processes, ideologies, and systems utilized in hiring and recruitment. Companies have become complacent in their expectation in finding the perfect fit rather than adjusting or improvising to meet the current needs of the organization.
Whether it be experience level, education, or the skills required people are missing the mark of the criteria given by employers. However, instead of finding ways to utilize the talent they have access to they are letting vacancies go unfilled further halting productivity and momentum within their organizations.
Unless companies decide to help bridge the skills gap they will continue to be reliant on available talent to determine their ability to hire. There are a few ways in which organizations can ensure that they are able to acquire the talent and skills they need.
Upskilling Training Programs: Every company that is hiring should have a training program for new and current employees. Upskilling resources will help new hires that may require additional support to meet the needs of the job position. It also allows employees interested in advancement to achieve the milestones and skills required to take on new roles and responsibilities. Whether it's teaching new systems or advancing knowledge in certain technologies, this is an effective way to help grow an employee to help support the needs of the organization.
Mentorship and Coaching: Assigning new hires a mentor to guide them through the role and responsibilities provides support to someone who may not have all the experience required for the position. Having someone to mentor and coach them provides guidance and knowledge to help develop required skills and gain valuable knowledge.
Cross-training Current Employees: Cross training is a way to fully utilize your employees by providing them with the opportunity to learn different roles within the organization as well as utilize any cross functional skills they have. This fosters collaboration which can bridge certain skill gaps across teams and departments.
Continuous Learning: Creating a work environment that encourages and supports continuous learning helps an organization to be proactive and take advantage of internal hiring to fill positions. Providing employees with education and skill building resources not only helps advance their careers, it develops the expertise and knowledge within the company.
Experience Over Education: Forgoing educational requirements where able allows employers to tap into STARs. STARs are individuals that are Skilled Through Alternative Routes, meaning they have gained knowledge and experience outside of traditional post secondary schools and professional certifications.
Be Curious: Majority of applicants do not make it to the interview stage due to the first impressions provided by resumes and applications. In the search for the perfect candidate, recruiters are disregarding skilled people by not making the effort to inquire beyond the 6-7 seconds they take to scan a resume. Hiring managers can also be dismissive when reviewing candidates that do not appear to meet all the requirements. Taking time to speak directly with anyone who possesses some of the skills you are looking for and dive deeper into their experience gives companies the opportunity to discover more talent.
Implementing any one of these strategies in a hiring process will help hiring teams become less reliant on the state of the job market. It is not just the job seekers responsibility to close skill gaps, companies also need to empower the workforce to meet their needs.
