3 Ways to Hire Top Talent for Your Open Positions |

3 Ways to Hire Top Talent for Your Open Positions

I was in a gas station today and there were signs posted everywhere stating they were hiring. They were even offering a $300 signing bonus, full benefits, and up to $17 an hour. Crazy. I have seen this everywhere. It seems most businesses are hiring. COVID continues to have its repercussions on the labor market.

In March, the National Federation of Independent Business found that “42% of owners had job openings that could not be filled, a record high. Ninety-one percent of those hiring or trying to hire reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.” So, there are a lot of jobs available and qualified people are not applying. This means, as an employer, you need strategize how to attract top talent. Here are 3 ways to do so.

Make the Job Better

This may seem like common sense, but with improved wages, benefits, training, safety, and respect, you are sure to attract a higher quality employee. This includes respect from upper management, the ability to grow within the company, and opportunities for periodic and continual raises.

Take Health / Coronavirus Precautions

Taking a variety of COVID precautions “will help everyone and reassure workers who’ve stayed out of the labor market due to health concerns,” says The New York Times. According to labor economist Aaron Sojourner, what is being called a labor shortage is actually “a health shortage, a wage shortage, and a care shortage.” The coronavirus continues to make jobs risky for employees and their loved ones, therefore reducing the value of the job to the employee. The value of being home has also increased “because of increased child, elder, and sick care responsibilities and additional unemployment insurance benefits.” With a company providing COVID precautions, the value of work will begin to increase again – the risk will be somewhat mitigated for the employee.

Be Transparent in Job Postings

Many companies will leave their job postings vague to bargain and tailor the offer to the applicant. But, vagueness can lead to the waste of time for the hiring manager and applicants. This may also lead to individuals who would be a good fit not applying because the ad wasn’t clear enough. Transparency will save money and time and also get the right people in the door.

To read more, check out these sources:

NCSL’s State Unemployment Rates | May 2021

CNBC’s As small businesses recover from the pandemic, they face a new obstacle: finding workers

NY Times’s Why It’s Hard to Hire Right Now

The Business Journal’s Attracting and retaining top talent: 5 ways to make them come to you