Insights

If you haven’t heard, we have gone from the great resignation of 2022 and 2023 to the great stay of 2024.  Wow…it is so hard to keep up with the changing trends!  In the manufacturing sector of engineering, operations, quality and materials I don’t know if I have ever experienced the benefit of last year’s great resignation (good candidates have been and STILL are hard to find) and if it is truly #thegreatstay, that means it could be more difficult for manufacturers to attract the talent that is needed.

In the 26 years of my manufacturing recruitment experience, attracting top talent is harder than it ever has been.  Even though job postings are down, the following reasons may make it difficult for recruitment efforts the rest of the year and into 2024:

1. It’s an election year – going into an election year usually makes it even more difficult due to employees not wanting to make a job change in fear of what the upcoming election holds – too many uncertainties.  

2. They aren’t going anywhere in the fourth quarter, meaning candidates will start to “hunker down” in order to get their year end bonuses.

3. Lack of vacation time for interviews – candidates have used up all of their vacation time at year end or are holding onto it for the holidays and will not be flexible with interviewing schedules.

4. Employers are working hard to retain their staff through flexibility and hybrid opportunities, even extending counter offers with the ultimatum of losing core talent.  And if a candidate is not motivated by anything except money, they will accept that counter offer gladly.   Year to date, 71% of the declined offers that we have had are due to candidates either accepting counter offers or a different offer. 

How can you finish strong in 2023 to attract the talent you need

So how do we continue to attract talent with the multiple challenges that we are facing?  Here are a couple of ideas that may be of assistance:

1. Know what you have to offer candidates – According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, job openings were down the month of July by 5.3%.  Even with total jobs declining slightly, employers have to have something to sell potential candidates.  What do you have to market? Hybrid, promotions, benefits, stability, work/life balance, etc. 

2. Know their motivator – What is their WHY?  Working with candidates who have a motivator, a reason to change positions, is critical in filling open positions in a timely manner. Find out what it is and market your company’s answer to satisfying the WHY.  Candidates who are only motivated by $$ will be the first candidate who will potentially accept a counter offer. 

3. Candidates want to be sold – #WIFM, what is in it for ME!  Let’s face the facts, 70% of candidates interviewing are passive.  We may not want to hear it, but candidates want to be sold on your company and the culture. Have them meet multiple team members, including managers that are a couple of layers above them, market your benefits, offer plant tours and show expansion and investments when you can.  Include lunch with team members during interviews to get to know the culture better.  Interview first, sell second! 

4. Be timely and flexible – Move your interview process quickly, making the process easy for the candidate, and be timely with a competitive job offer.  In this day and age, we can’t keep candidates on hold; they will find another position before you can get back to them and passive candidates will just lose interest.

5. It just takes one – Have the mentality that if you find one good candidate and you feel they have the majority of what you need, they are retainable and they fit your culture (which is critical) make them a job offer.  Don’t wait for a comparison; by the time you get someone to compare them to…they may be gone or lose interest.

When recruiting today, the marketing plan is just as, if not more important than, the recruitment plan.  When creating a recruitment plan for your position, spend an adequate amount of time discussing what it is that you have to offer potential candidates.  Knowing what you have to offer and what it is that the candidate is seeking will help you to fill your position faster.