A lot of my time is spent with business owners who are all looking for employees. While this doesn’t make me an “expert”, I do feel I hear enough through the grapevine to have a few unique insights. Covid, which has changed things for everyone has seemed to hit the labor market the worst. During my conversations with many business owners, the frustration is the same across the board. I cannot find new employees. They clamor on and on about “all the things they’ve tried” and none work. While I empathize with what they are going through, shouldn’t the search for new employees be treated in a similar way to finding new customers? When it’s broken down, there isn’t much difference.
Before I outline what I mean, we need to make a few key assumptions about the businesses struggling to find employees.
- The business is focused on more than its bottom line. Meaning they willingly turn away customers who are not a right fit.
- The work they give their employees is not treated as replaceable. While the people higher up the chain would never say they treat their employees as replaceable, the work they ask of them is. From an employee’s perspective, these often feel the same.
Companies who’s clear goal is to make a quick buck, are not positioned to change and don’t an appetite for outside advice. While individual employees may give their all, vision and leadership comes from the top.
The Hipster Dilemma
The world is filled with generic products. One of the most difficult things to do when creating a product or service is to find a concise and compelling way to sell it. This is no different when looking for employees.
Looking through job postings is mind-numbing. If you haven’t spent any time in the corporate world you probably wouldn’t make it past the sheer quantity of jargon. Too often companies use exhausted buzz words to hype up their job listing without actually focusing on what makes their company unique. This creates thousands of job posts that feel almost identical. Imagine a puzzle made of one solid color, the only difference is their shapes. How fun does that sound? Searching for a new job takes a lot of energy, but this process should be exciting, make an effort for it to be.
Hide information expect employees to do the same
Ever tried selling a product without telling someone the cost? Neither have I, and I don’t plan to.
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The number of times I’ve seen companies not list what the job pays, or even lie about the pay to attract applicants is astounding. If you’re hiring process begins with a lie, don’t expect anything else in return. Not much else to say here.
Be a sheep, expect baaad results
Following the crowd when selling can be effective in the short term, but often becomes extremely costly. Many times “trends” become mainstream when they are already nearing the top of their lifecycle. A critical mass of people jump on the bandwagon, and the next thing you know you are already behind the curve.
Effectively marketing a job is no different. Job posting websites like Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn have done a great job convincing us they are necessary. In reality, companies have been hiring employees since the dawn of time. What they’ve done is sell us their product, at quite a large cost businesses.
The digital revolution has allowed middlemen to wiggle their way into business activities with more ease than ever. Standing out is more than just a clear message, but is also about sharing that message in a place with less noise.
Start local
When selling a new product or job position. Start local, start small and branch out. Promoting the job position doesn’t have to cost money, so don’t pay for it unless you have to. When starting a small business it’s advised in about every entrepreneurship book to send an email to all your friends and family. Why not do the same for jobs? Now I do know many people have done this, but I prefer guerrilla marketing over advertising as it often time is my only expense. Limiting overhead gives you more runway to find what you need.
Adjust your expectations
Covid has brought a reckoning on the job market. For some, it’s created opportunity through full-time remote work. For others, it has empowered them to find work with purpose.
Many businesses now are left with a void that doesn’t match the expectations of the labor force. Companies large and small need to step back, assess who they are, and clarify their purpose.
Coming from personal experience it’s easy to feel stuck in a job you don’t like. When you try to look for a better opportunity it only compounds the problem. The great news is everything I talked about could be changed tomorrow. We just need to decide that it’s important enough to change.
