How to Hire Industrial Workers in a Tricky Labor Market
Total Compensation: Pay Isn’t Just Wages
July 21, 2021
How To Recruit Tradesmen
October 17, 2021
- A few industrial recruiting tips and tricks from the Xemplar Tradesmen Recruiting team that could help you find the top talent you need to get the job done.
It’s a wild labor market these days! While it was also difficult to find high-quality employees a few years ago, all the leverage seems to have now passed into the hands of the candidates, who suddenly find themselves with many opportunities and loads of room to negotiate. But what is an employer to do?
One of my colleagues, Ronald Woerner, recently posted on Linkedin that he heard from two companies in the same week that had lost top candidates to other companies. At first, they couldn’t understand what happened, but, after deeper conversation, it became clear that neither company had moved quickly enough and were not willing to work with the candidates’ unique schedules to conduct interviews. Both candidates ended up accepting positions with other employers that were willing to move fast and bend over backwards to meet with them.
As a recruiter of industrial personnel and skilled tradespeople at Xemplar Tradesmen Recruiting, these stories sound all too familiar, but I’ve had enough experience recruiting employees for my clients to know that finding great people is a challenge, not an impossibility. Great candidates are out there, but to snag them, it requires 1) sufficient and smart investment to market job openings, 2) diligence in reviewing resumes and interviewing, and 3) flexibility to move fast and rapidly adjust to the needs of the candidates. Any corner a company may wish to cut in these steps will ultimately hurt their own probability of finding solid candidates. More work equals more success!
In his post, Ronald reminds companies that candidates are generally not trying to take advantage of employers by asking for special interview times (such as after-hours). The reality is that they are often trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves at their current employer by asking for a half day or full day off in the middle of the week. The exercise of putting one’s self in the candidate’s shoes can help hiring managers become more empathetic to the challenges facing candidates and encourage more flexible thinking in the hiring process.
We have also noticed a somewhat frequent approach in companies where they seek to run their hiring process like an RFP process. Their goal would be to gather resumes, interview multiple candidates, compare candidates, and then hire the best one all within a few short days. In the current hiring market, this approach is nearly impossible to achieve. We suggest to clients they develop clear hiring criteria for each of their positions so that they can make a hiring decision when they find themselves face-to-face with a high-quality candidate instead of hoping they will have an opportunity to compare one candidate to another at the exact same time. With these clear hiring criteria in place, a company can take the very luxurious step of actually hiring BOTH candidates if they both meet or exceed the hiring criteria. We are seeing more of this type of opportunistic thinking in the current market from companies that are navigating these choppy waters successfully.
Are you already doing all these things and STILL struggling to find great industrial employees? Well then, we would encourage you to reach out to us to learn more about our industrial recruiting services. This is what we do every day. Our Xemplar team can add the horsepower you need to consistently find high-quality candidates to interview and hire. We work closely with candidates to understand their needs and match them with opportunities and companies, where they are most likely to succeed. Given our expertise and training, we speak the technical language of candidates within your industry, allowing us to market your positions and vet candidates effectively. Lastly, we focus on high-quality direct placement positions (instead of poor-quality “temp” jobs), which enables us to engage and attract the highest quality talent available in the local job market.
To learn more about Xemplar Tradesmen Recruiting’s services, contact us today at 844-936-7527.
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About Xemplar Tradesmen Recruiting
Xemplar Tradesmen Recruiting is a specialty industrial recruiting company focused on the permanent placement of machinists, welders, technicians, mechanics, fabricators, electricians, precision assemblers, quality inspectors and related positions. We match top trades professionals with best-in-class industrial employers and reduce cost-per-hire through a service proven to be more than 2x as effective as traditional temp-to-hire staffing. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Xemplar Tradesmen Recruiting provides nationwide support to its clients’ locations. Learn more about Xemplar Tradesmen Recruiting here.
