Finding & Chasing Purple Squirrels: How to Hire the Right People in a Challenging Labor Market Dale Kreienkamp Vice President, Human Resources Lutheran Senior Services

Our Time Together Today The Labor Market The Pipeline of Candidates The Hiring Process Special challenges

The Purple Squirrel

Today – It’s all Purple Squirrels

Midwest Job Openings Up, Hiring Down Jobs available, but employers finding less suitable or few applicants Feb 2015 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

St. Louis Job Expansion Barriers Shortage of Skilled Workers (3rd Year at Top) Economic Conditions and Government Regulations Decline Lack of Transportation Access Rising

Functional Area Skill Shortages – Effective Rate Skill Trades, Manufacturing/Maintenance, & Patient Care have top effective rates

Top Middle Skills Job Advertisements Source: Burning Glass Labor Insight, analysis of online job ads over year ending June 2017.

Top 10 Job Applicant Shortcomings Soft Skills also in top job ads: Communication Skills Problem Solving Teamwork Writing Hard Skills Matter: Applicants with Business/Industry Knowledge & Technical Skills will have an edge

The Pipeline Everyone needs to be a recruiter!!!!! Your entire leadership team and staff need to believe this and participate If you wait for applicants – you’ll starve! Use as many strategies as you can based on time and resources There are no “silver bullets” to fix this

Strategies to consider Employee referrals Employee referral bonuses State unemployment agencies Social events Schools Churches Veterans Diversity recruiting Your website Video Radio Post card mailings Sign on bonuses Virtual career fairs

Application Process Do you know what positions are really open? Do you have a discipline of reviewing and talking about openings on a regular basis? Are the openings posted, ones someone would want to work? Or, have you posted a job for every Friday & Saturday night from 4-11 p.m.? Do you know how long each position has been open? If it’s been open more than 120 days is it time to re-think what you’re looking for Do you know your problem areas, i.e. those with the highest turnover? Have you looked realistically at the manager of those problem areas?

Application Process How easy is it to apply for a job with your organization? When someone applies, how quickly does the applicant get a response? How available are your team to interview? Do you make time to meet the candidate’s schedule? Is there someone always available?

Interviewing Turnover reduction starts with employee selection What do you want to learn from the candidate? Their job skills, training needs required Interest in the organization beyond just a job Cultural fit – E.g. if your culture is team based, are they a “team player” or an “individual” Not to be confused with “do they look like us” Availability – Does their schedule match our needs

Interviewing Avoid “Ah, I see you have a pulse, and you can start this week, wonderful! Let’s give it a try…”

Interviewing Are your managers who interview trained in how to interview? If not, train them Do you use “behavioral based” questions? Traditional: “What would you do if…” We learn what the applicant “tells us” Behavioral: “What did you do when…” We learn what they “did” in a similar situation

Job Preview How realistic are you in your review of the job? It’s about balance Include both positives and negatives in a factual way Be realistic, do not go overboard either way Try not to lead the candidate and be careful about making commitments you/we cannot keep

Peer Interviews Does your team participate in the selection process? This can be a good way for staff to buy in on new hires If they participate, they are more likely to work to help someone be successful If you use Peer Interviews Prepare them for their role, i.e. training, training, training Let them know what you expect from them in the process Legal – Make certain they know questions to avoid Getting their input on the candidate

Special Challenges Assessments Do you use a pre-employment assessment as part of your process? Must be used consistently Eliminate candidates that aren’t a good fit for your organization Improve the quality of candidate that we were hiring Provide a guide to interviewers for targeting questions Assessments will reduce your candidate pool They are a long term solution Is your organization ready and patient enough?

Special Challenges Compensation – Money, Money, Money Are you competitive in the market? If not, what is it costing you in turnover? What if a candidate wants more than your current staff make? Consider How good do you think the candidate is? I.e. will they make a significant positive contribution? Or, are they “filling a hole” in the schedule? Are the current staff who this candidate wants to be paid above “star performers”? If you don’t match their request, will they accept, but continue looking for a job that pays more?

Special Challenges Drop Outs Candidates will say “yes”, but then… Fail to show up for their pre-employment physical Fail their drug test Have a criminal background that keeps you from hiring them Have a criminal background that make you not want them Pass all of your pre-employment requirements, but not show up for their first day Do you know how often this happens in your organization? Do you know what the cost of drop outs is to your organization?