How to Successfully Recruit Employees

With Spring officially in swing, green industry companies are struggling to get the people they need to maintain successful business operations. Some companies are reducing hours and declining contracts due to a lack of staff. It doesn’t have to be this way, though. Here is how any company can successfully attract and recruit employees.

Streamline the recruitment process

The current talent war isn’t going away. In fact, it’s only going to get worse. Last month, Home Depot announced plans to hire 100,000 new positions this spring and revealed their game plan to accomplish their goal. To hire enough people for the spring rush, they plan to introduce an “accelerated hiring process” through which job seekers can receive an offer the day after they apply. By responding first to those seeking employment, The Home Depot will certainly have an advantage. Prior to the pandemic, ZipRecruiter reported that 64% of workers took the first job offer they received in their most recent employment search.

For small businesses that wish to compete for workers, this officially raises the bar. Most green industry companies currently take two to five days to connect with job applicants once they’ve applied. In today’s economy, those people will have already accepted a position with a company like Home Depot.

What can you do to win the talent war?

Move traditional hiring processes to electronic, text-based communication where a response is automatic and instantaneous. Imagine an applicant texts your company looking for work and fills out a few key details on their phone. Within minutes, they receive a response using their first name, inviting them to schedule a call based on the availability of your calendar. Once they select a time within the next 24 hours, you receive an email to connect with them. The playing field is now leveled.

It may sound too good to be true, but isn’t. A friend of mine started a company called Team Engine specifically to help industries like ours implement the technology necessary to quickly recruit employees. If you want a demo and free trial, check them out at this link. 

How can you sell the opportunity?

Now that we’ve engaged a candidate as quickly (or even faster) than Home Depot, how do we make sure they accept our job offer? Let’s talk about the benefits of working in the green industry. We enhance the natural environment while working indoors, improve the lives of our customers by helping them connect with nature, and are employed, in most cases, regardless of appearance or background check issues. Clearly, there are advantages that Home Depot can’t offer.

Yet, it’s going to take more than building a better applicant response system and appealing to company purpose and culture. To really change the game, employers need to recruit employees strategically and aggressively. But rather than courting employees who are in demand by nearly every business, savvy companies are targeting those employees who are in untapped labor markets. Candidates could include people without education or experience or those formerly incarcerated. Or maybe they have disabilities, visible tattoos, or a history of addiction. Perhaps veterans, retirees, or part-time workers could be the next ideal employee.

Of course, managers need to make a conscious choice to adjust human resource policies. They may need to allocate extra time for, or even significantly modify, tasks and expectations depending on the employee. And while it will be challenging, it is also one of the most rewarding opportunities we have in our industry. After all, everyone in the world wants a good job.

In summary

The reality is there are exceptional employees available, but they often look very different and communicate differently than employees of seasons past. The only question that remains is whether your firm will radically change strategies to recruit and retain them.