Seasonal fluctuations in business bring a host of challenges; not the least of which is hiring the right candidates at the right time to meet the changing demand. But just like anything, with challenges, come solutions. And we’ve brought a few of those solutions right to your screen today to help with your Seasonal Hiring Challenges.
Challenge 1: Finding Qualified Candidates
Problem
Finding qualified candidates is an ongoing issues for businesses. In fact, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), 60% of owners reported hiring or trying to hire in December, unchanged from November’s report. Ninety-five percent of those owners hiring or trying to hire reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Thirty-one percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions and 26% reported none. It is truly a job seekers market.
Solution
There are a few things you can do to ensure you are not only reaching qualified candidates, but also luring them into your web of employees. First and foremost, consider how you are marketing your open positions. Are you maximizing your reach by including online job boards? Do you have a centralized applicant tracking system to help you manage and filter incoming applications so you can be more productive and efficient in your screening process? If not, this could be a real game changer. Solutions like Efficient Hire applicant tracking allows you to manage all of your open positions from one centralized system. You can post to dozens of job boards with ease, and filter incoming applications so you’re only reviewing the applications that are most relevant for you. Now that you’ve found your applicants, how do you sweeten the pot to ensure your top candidates choose your business over Joe’s down the street? Consider your compensation rates, unique benefits or perks, career path, etc.
Challenge 2: Accelerated Hiring Cycle
Problem
Does time ever sneak up on you? You know you have to hire a certain number of employees to meet the seasonal demand and it always feels like you have plenty of time . . . until you don’t. Not only do you need to address the first challenge of finding qualified candidates, but now you have to hire them and get them on the job, fast.
Solution
First, take a deep breath. You can do this. Technology has come a long way over the years to help businesses just like yours handle tasks in a more automated and streamlined fashion. And when it comes to onboarding new employees quickly, there’s a solution for that, too. Efficient Hire Onboarding automates and simplifies the onboarding process so you can quickly and easily hire new employees, ensure all paperwork is completes accurately and stored securely, and get your employees on the job and training faster than ever. This is especially important during those high demand seasons like we are entering now.
Challenge 3: Outdated Processes
Problem
Manual processes for finding and hiring new employees is one of the biggest struggles many businesses experience. Manual processes could mean pen and paper to complete applications and onboarding paperwork, or a sign in the window and word of mouth as the sole recruiting tactic. They could also mean using electronic job boards and editable PDFs for your forms. This is still manual if you’re posting your open positions to the job boards individually or you are handling your forms with PDF and still have to manage the various forms one-by-one. Manual processes are outdated when it comes to hiring new employees.
Solution
The solution is simple — automate your hiring process. By choosing to automate your hiring process, you will see tremendous returns on your investment. For example, by choosing Efficient Hire, you will:
- Increase productivity
- Eliminate paper and manual onboarding paperwork processes
- Reduce time to onboard new employees
- Ensure secure storage and retrieval of key documentation
- Support HR compliance with I-9/e-verify, w-4, ACA, etc
- Screen and process for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)
If you’re still managing your hiring process manually, it may be time to give Efficient Hire a look. Request a Demo to see for yourself.