Tips to Improve Your Application Process
According to the Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal: More than 1 in 4 candidates reports having had a bad experience when applying for a job. 42% would never seek employment with that company again 48% of candidates drop out of applicant tracking systems Part of attracting the best talent comes down to the nuts and bolts of your hiring and application process. If past applicants have had bad experiences they can potentially spread the word and your corporate brand will suffer. Also, as the finding above shows, if your application process is too difficult, job candidates will simply drop out voluntarily.…
Manufacturers Take Action: Skills Gap & Boomer Retirements
In a tight labor market, finding qualified workers to meet customer orders and replace retiring baby boomers is becoming increasingly difficult. It may seem overwhelming, but there are actions you can take today to position your company for future success on both fronts. The skills gap is expected to only get worse in the coming years as more baby boomers retire, reports Industry Week. Below are three industry best practices for overcoming the skills gap: Change perceptions, drive more interest. More people need to choose manufacturing as a career. Now is the time to look at our local community and…
Recruiting Tips: Passive Candidates
With our local hiring market tight, it is important not only for human resources but also hiring managers to keep qualified “passive candidates” interacting with you and your company. A passive candidate is not actively searching for a job but may be willing to consider if the right opportunity comes along. Approaching a passive candidate about a job opportunity is different than speaking with a candidate who is actively searching or has applied. HR industry expert, Lou Adler, of Inc. writes “recruiting passive candidates is not about selling them on how great your open job is; it’s about getting them…
Create a Great Place to Work: Improve Employee Communication
When you provide a great place to work not only are employees more productive but they also stay long-term with your company, which is especially important in today’s tight market for skilled-workers. Employee communication is a key component to creating a great work environment, making it an essential retention tool. Even as communication channels have changed in recent years with a wave of new digital options, you must continue to get the “basics” of communication right. Ms. Robin Hardman of HR resource site TLNT.com reminds us of the basic rules of good employee communications: Honesty. Don’t keep employees in the…
Events Around Town: Onboarding That Works
In July, we had the privilege of attending “Onboarding That Works” sponsored by The Manufacturers Alliance. This event was designed to highlight and promote best practices with respect to the onboarding of new employees. Members of the Business Development team, Matt Knutson, Dana Boettcher and Dave Rohlf, attended. Topics covered included: 1) how to get new employees to bring their best efforts to work everyday, 2) how to speed up their learning curve, 3) how to provide the right message, the right tools and timely follow-up so that valuable new talent starts contributing as soon as possible. Presenters from Kurt…
Adding “Cultural Fit” into Your Hiring Practice
A healthy selection process is a lot like good gardening. Companies that fail to pay attention to and critically assess the cultural fit of job candidates are missing a fabulous opportunity to plant healthy seeds and thus shape the future of their “organizational garden.” They are also apt to inadvertently sew seeds that will not grow well in their soil. Worse yet, they may allow “weeds” to slip in. The result is a lot of unnecessary work and waste. A most successful workplace was a major plant start-up in southeastern North Carolina. A multi-national organization was building an electro-mechanical, metal fabrication…