What To Put and Not Put In Your Job Ad

Recruiting is a rapidly changing process

If you are looking to recruit an employee these days, the market is rapidly changing.  I’m going to list a number of things that you need to consider when placing a job ad.

Compensation

Have you looked at job listings lately.  The percentage of ads that list a specific range of hourly or annual compensation is rapidly rising. In some markets it is approaching 50% and the percentage is growing.  Employers understand that listing compensation on the front end actually helps to weed out applicants who will not be a good fit, instead of learning later on in the process after wasting time and resources. The other important consideration of doing this however, is that your current employees will most likely see the ad. If your compensation varies from what you pay your current employees, the time to address this is before you place your ad, or you are exposing yourself to increasing your employee attrition rate.

Posting Locations

One recent employer posted ads on typical paid online job placement websites for office help and for equipment installers.  He got 30 responses for the office position and only 2 unqualified responses for installers, even though the installer positions paid more.  For the installer positions, he changed his strategy and went to an organization that helped relatively new legal immigrants with work permits from Eastern European companies and posted the job with them.  He found well trained people with enough English speaking to do the job, and they turned out to be great.  The takeaway is to think differently when you are seeking employees for difficult to fill positions.

Benefits

Studies show that benefits are becoming a more important element of compensation in retaining and recruiting new employees.  if you have open positions and your overall business profitability is hurting, your reaction may be to cut back a bit on your employee benefits package.  But this is the wrong thing to do.  New recruits are going to compare your benefits, putting you at a disadvantage, and you will likely hurt the morale of your existing employees, leading to less retention over time.  If you need to cut back somewhere, take a serious look at other places to cut.  See if there are any employees that would trade hours flexibility for working less hours per week.  Look for other ways to cut expenses. Also, look to add benefits that cost you little or no money.  Something like a buyer’s club membership or other things can go a long way when employees are feeling nervous.  And double down your efforts to fill positions that will have the most direct positive impact on your revenues.

Work Environment

Studies show that given the choice, the larger percentage of employees will favor flexible work schedules over pay increases.  Similarly, a good work environment that supports teamwork is essential. Your company’s workspace is a reflection of you.  Is it clean or cluttered?  Do your employees help each other, smile and joke, or do they work somewhat as adversaries and look pressured? So much of the environment is a result of leadership. If you create a good work environment, this is a recruiting tool as your current employees will provide you with potential candidates, and when you post jobs and do interviews, your candidates will see an environment that they want to be a part of.

Summary

The job market is highly competitive.  Simply listing job responsibilities is not sufficient any more.  Highlight the things that make your business environment and the job stand out from the competition.  Remember, even if the economy slows down, no one is predicting a return to the previous employment environment. Recruiting employees is going to continue to be a challenging task.