{"id":10329,"date":"2021-09-01T11:22:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T15:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=10329"},"modified":"2024-08-30T11:07:40","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T15:07:40","slug":"make-open-positions-more-attractive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/make-open-positions-more-attractive\/","title":{"rendered":"Steps to Make Your Open Positions More Attractive to Applicants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"makeSome jobs are just plain unpleasant. You know the type. Monotonous tasks that don\u2019t end until it\u2019s time to clock out. Dealing all day with customers who are unhappy, unappreciative, or rude. Fielding nonstop complaints. Hard labor. Outdoor work in extreme temperatures. You can convince people to take these jobs when they have no other choice. But right now, for a variety of reasons, they do have other options. The avoidance of undesirable work is one reason why half of all small businesses\u00a0are unable to find workers<\/a> right now. That’s why it’s critical to make your open positions more attractive.<\/p>\n

Pay raises and other perks\u00a0haven\u2019t always done the trick<\/a>, either. This has left many employers with no good way to incentivize job seekers to apply or convince dissatisfied employees to stay. After all, the work is the work, and there\u2019s nothing to be done about it, right?<\/p>\n

Not necessarily.<\/p>\n

Employers have some control over what the work is, how it\u2019s done, and under what conditions it\u2019s done. Not limitless, of course, but there are often ways to make unpleasant work more bearable, if not genuinely exciting.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re among the half of small businesses struggling to fill positions, and you haven\u2019t had any luck with other measures to entice applicants to apply, consider what changes you could make to the work you need done or to the overall work experience at your business. Here is a set of steps you could follow:<\/p>\n

Step 1 \u2013 Identify the ‘Unfun’ Parts<\/h2>\n

Create a list of all the unpleasant aspects of the job you\u2019re having trouble filling or keeping staffed. Include both the work itself and the conditions under which it\u2019s done. Try to be as comprehensive as you can. You won\u2019t be addressing everything you write down, but the more things you can include, the more you\u2019ll have to work with. If you\u2019re not sure what to include, consider an anonymous poll of your employees or review job descriptions and mentally walk through the day-to-day tasks that are required of your workers.<\/p>\n

Step 2 \u2013 Determine What You Can Change<\/h2>\n

For each aspect you\u2019ve written down, determine whether it\u2019s something you can directly change, indirectly do something about, or if it\u2019s entirely out of your power. You don\u2019t need to come up with changes or solutions at this stage. Just note whether it\u2019s something you have some control over, however little that may be. For example, you can\u2019t change the weather, but there may be things you can do to make extreme temperatures more bearable.<\/p>\n

Step 3 \u2013 Think a Little Harder About What You \u201cCan\u2019t\u201d Change<\/h2>\n

Now that you\u2019ve categorized the job aspects, reevaluate the items you indicated you had no control over. Give each one some thought and challenge your assumptions. Do you really have no options as far as these aspects are concerned? Keep an open mind and take some time later to think about them. You also may get ideas when you\u2019re implementing other changes later.<\/p>\n

Step 4 \u2013 Brainstorm Improvements<\/h2>\n

Now think about what changes you\u00a0could\u00a0<\/em>make. Don\u2019t worry about the logistics or the costs just yet. Here you\u2019re just considering options. For example, if you\u2019re worried that extreme temperatures are keeping job applicants away, you might look at uniforms that offer more comfort, additional or longer breaks, and ways to provide shade or cover from the elements. If the work is emotionally taxing, you might consider easing up on performance metrics, providing longer lunches, or allowing employees the flexibility to step away and decompress when they need it.<\/p>\n

Increased freedom and flexibility might be another option. Standing desks for those who want to stretch their legs. Seats for cashiers who would prefer to sit. Ergonomic headsets for those on the phone. A second computer monitor for those who have to stare at small print. Job sharing to minimize monotony. Customer swapping to stop harassment.<\/p>\n

Employees also appreciate knowing that their employer has their back and won\u2019t put up with their being mistreated by customers. Posting notices about acceptable behavior and giving employees permission to step away from an abusive customer can really help in creating a psychologically safe workplace.<\/p>\n

Step 5 \u2013 Do a Cost-Benefit Analysis<\/h2>\n

Any change you make is going to have a cost. In this step, do your best to estimate the implementation costs and analyze whether the cost is worth the benefit. That may not be clear right away. If your solution to physically or emotionally taxing labor is additional paid breaks, employees will be spending less time working. Less time working could translate into assignments taking longer to finish or fewer orders being completed. Then again, well-rested employees may be more productive, able to accomplish more in a shorter period of time. Time will tell.<\/p>\n

To conduct a cost-benefit analysis, compare the estimated costs of making changes to the costs of having a labor shortage or higher than average turnover. Consider too that there are no guarantees the changes you make will be successful. You\u2019re taking a risk, but the bigger risk may be in doing nothing. It could be a while before the labor market becomes more favorable to employers.<\/p>\n

Step 6 \u2013 Make the Changes<\/h2>\n

Depending on your situation, you may decide to try all the changes at once or one at a time. The latter may be more helpful if you want to be able to measure the success of each change, but the former may have a bigger impact in the short term.<\/p>\n

Step 7 \u2013 Advertise the New Awesomeness<\/h2>\n

Shout from the rooftops. For some, this step will be the most challenging. Your employees will immediately notice the changes you make, but job seekers won\u2019t. You need to tell them. Talk up the efforts you take to make the work experience more pleasant. Share photos on social media. Most importantly, tell a compelling story in job ads, your careers page, and everywhere else job seekers can find you.<\/p>\n

Stories can be a powerful and effective way to change behavior. In your case, you want job seekers to take a job today that they were unwilling to take yesterday. You have to convince them to cast aside their doubts and believe in you. A well-told story can be very persuasive.<\/p>\n

The story you should tell is not about you, however. It\u2019s about them. About the experience they\u2019ll have. Definitely don\u2019t sugarcoat that experience. If the work is rough, they\u2019ll learn soon enough. But sharing what you\u2019ve done to make the work less taxing tells job seekers that you care about your employees and want them to have a good work experience.<\/p>\n

Step 8 \u2013 Evaluate the Outcome and Adjust Accordingly<\/h2>\n

Did the changes you made help? Were you able to fill open positions and keep them filled? How do your employees feel about the steps you took to improve the work experience? If you\u2019re not satisfied with the results and they\u2019re not satisfied with the changes you made, think about why and discuss solutions with your employees. What could have been done differently? What surprised you?<\/p>\n

This process will take some trial and error, and there\u2019s no guarantee it will work, but it is an option to consider if the jobs you need done aren\u2019t especially attractive and measures like pay increases haven\u2019t gotten you more applicants.<\/p>\n

One final change you may need to make is how you track and hire your applicants. Our applicant tracking system from isolved<\/a> makes it easy to leverage employee referrals, customize application and interview questions, filter through candidates, and conduct interviews, getting you to the right candidates to fill your positions. Request a free quote<\/a> to see how GTM can help you improve your recruitment process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re struggling to fill positions, consider these changes you could implement to make your open positions more attractive to applicants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[253,25,124,159],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-10329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consulting-services","tag-applicants","tag-hiring","tag-job-description","tag-recruitment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10329"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10333,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10329\/revisions\/10333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10329"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=10329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}