Recruiting & Retention Strategies from TeamStrength Members

-Go with unqualified candidates, who are highly motivated, and train them up.

-Sign up for Handshake to notify a select group of colleges when you post a new job opening/position – it’s free and it goes out to students and alumni.

-Cash referral bonus

-Create a business card that employees can hand out when they see someone they might like to work for the company. The card shares details about the company and how to apply.

-Look out of state and emphasize the move to Florida. Pay a relocation stipend.  Invite candidates (and spouses!) down here for dinner.  Look on LinkedIn for people who are looking to move/make a change.

-Check your Glassdoor reviews and have current employees leave positive reviews to improve rating. This is now connected to Indeed, so potential employees immediately see it.

-Spread out signing bonuses. Give new employees a tenure bonus that pays out 6-12 months down the line.

-Be present on Social Media and monitor places your company has been reviewed. Candidates do a ton of research now, make sure your online presence is strong.

-Throughout the year, check in on people you didn’t hire but liked.

-Approach recruiting like marketing – have to sell yourself and your company.

-Wrap your arms around your current A players. Identify your all-stars and do a competitive market adjustment.  Figure out the ones you can’t lose and throw money at them.  Give them options to earn more money, flexibility, PTO, training, etc.  Go all in.  Change the model.

-Call employees who left. Ask if they’re happy and if they want to come back.

-Use SparkHire – it sets up recorded video interviews. You set the questions and the candidate answers in video form and sends it in.  Helps weed out people who are not serious about the job.

-Use newer employees to point to additional candidates. They just left companies and know different people than your team.

-Do a compensation analysis of open positions right now with comparable responsibilities to better understand your range. Review current similar openings for their compensation.

-Implement Automation Hour and find ways to get things done through technology. Look into AI.

-Create a stable of freelancers – part of your workforce that flexes to your need. Use UpWorks.

-Allow candidates to pick their package based on what’s most important to them – remote work, title, money, etc. Offer higher compensation or more PTO or more flexibility.

-Hire candidates further in their career who are more established and don’t want to jump around.

-Improve your own recruiting, hiring, onboarding and training to win in this market.

-Look at industries with normally high turnover and review their best practices (like QSRs).

-Create a system that puts you in a different position relative to competitors.

-This is going to continue so control what you can through compensation. Do regular analysis and understand the true cost to replace, recruit, retain someone.  Then pay your team rather than replace them.

-Invest in training that is automated and more efficient. Higher turnover requires better training.

-Look at flexible work options/strategies – four-day work week.

-Redesigning your workforce around 18-month to 2-year positions. What would change?

-Hire everyone on a one-year contract then they reapply every year. Offer new/different packages.

-Retention bonus options, let them choose. PTO, educational sponsorship, sabbatical.

-Create a task force to review these ideas, generate their own, and implement an action plan.