Nip Tuck
Does your workforce planning need a facelift? Some preventive care today can reduce the need for drastic measures later.
Here are three things you can do to rejuvenate your approach to workforce planning:
The game has changed
Have you been using the same methodology to position yourself as an attractive suitor to candidates? Wonder why it's no longer working? While you were struggling to survive the recession, the game changed. It's no longer about you. It's now about the candidate and what you can do to make their stay in your organization a fabulous experience.
Take 22-year old Mary. She just graduated from a prestigious liberal arts college. While in school, Mary's summers were spent working as a volunteer with several non-profit agencies. Mom and dad have always taken care of things for Mary and she is fairly confident they will continue to fund her lifestyle after graduation. In her job search, her priorities are meaningful work, continual learning and a collegial atmosphere. The rest is pretty irrelevant to her.
Mary is fairly typical of today's graduating class. It's unlikely that you will be able to attract members of her generation into your organization using stale recruitment strategies. Is it time for a new plan of attack?
Minor cosmetic changes
All you have to do is look around and you will see how different the landscape looks today on the job searching front. A large number of job seekers, particularly the younger generation, are online cruising all the major job boards. It's one thing to get them to nibble on your line. It's another to get them to take a bite. Once they reach your website, you have less than 5 seconds to impress them.
If you haven't recently done so, look at your own website. Better yet, ask employees who come from different generational backgrounds for their opinion. Is it time to freshen things up a bit?
Begin by asking yourself the following questions:
- Does our website accurately reflect our culture?
- Is the focus of our recruitment content on us, rather than on what the candidate can expect to experience when working for our organization?
- Does our recruitment section look like an ad for The Gap or do we include photos that reflect the generational diversity in our workforce?
Be prepared for some pain
Perhaps you have heard people in your organization say, “We've always done things this way, why change now?” To many, change can be excruciatingly painful.
Usually there is pain before results can be achieved. It takes time to design and implement a workforce strategy and even then you are not guaranteed flawless results.
Eliminating some of the wrinkles in your recruitment strategy might work for a while. But sometimes that's not enough. Sometimes you have to look in the mirror and face the truth. It may be time for a nip and a tuck. Or maybe it's time for a major overhaul.
Article by Roberta Chinsky Matuson from https://www.nehra.com/articlesresources/article.cfm?id=1152