The Great Engagement: Hiring to Stop the Great Resignation

Step 1. The Right Hires the First Time

We can’t decide if hiring during “The Great Resignation” is down right scary or the most opportune time to hire. We need to understand why people are quitting (approximately 40-50% of the workforce right now — as we talk about in last week’s edition of The Great Engagement), master our retention plan, and take advantage of the large pool of talent that is searching for a job.

There you have it. It’s as easy as 1-2-3. Except if it were, we wouldn’t be here right now.

Hiring the right people isn’t a perfect recipe to duplicate over and over.

What we know to be true:

You have to cast a wide net
Don’t send offers and make hires with one interview
Know the qualities, attitudes, personalities, characteristics, soft skills that are absolute musts for success and fit. You can train the rest.
Have clear conversation about work from home, remote work, or in office requirements.
Give careful attention to detail when onboarding & training new team members, experience is both sensitive and critical!

#1 You have to cast a wide net.

At HireLevel, prior to The Great Resignation, we made on average 1,000 calls/day; reviewed 150 resumes; completed 75 interviews; started 35 people at new jobs every day. Now, we spend an average of 72 hours per 8-hour work day making recruiting calls, have increased calls by over 15,000 per month and as a result have had 292 more people starting new jobs on a monthly basis.

Our clients rely on us to do this because we have a certified team dedicated to full time recruitment and sourcing who extend our clients’ capacity reducing time to hire and the chance to find the right new team member the first time due to having more candidates to interview. They use outside perspective and unbiased, creative strategies, partnered with super smart technology to widen the pool of talent.

#2 Don’t send offers and make hires with one interview.

Sure, sometimes the first person we interview is a rockstar and blows our socks off. Then there are times we do interview after interview after interview and no one really does it for us. Either way, when you find the rockstar, try to find another rockstar. Being able to compare strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons, fit for fit, and side by side helps you envision different people in the role and empowers you to make better informed decisions. Is it going to take longer? Maybe. That’s why you have to cast that wide net to start. #1 is key to being able to do #2.

#3 Know the qualities, attitudes, personalities, characteristics, soft skills that are absolute musts for success and fit. You can train the rest.

Tried and true personality tests, strengths finders, the list goes on– Stop skills testing candidates to death and get back to using these behavioral assessments! Right now, more than ever, it’s about experience and connection. That’s what is driving The Great Engagement. Start with increasing the odds – how compatible are new hires with current team mates. Don’t discount the power of peer interviews in the process.

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What does the Great Engagement look like?

—> Empowering employees to expand relationships across the organization

—> Growing careers

—> Fostering transparency and fairness in opportunities

—> Creating shared moments and celebrations.

It’s interviewing from wherever they are, skills development, career pathing, flexibility at the individual level, and opportunities to know and to collaborate with team members and goals across the organization, outside of their team. When people are closely connected, they are invested.

Traditionally, we collaborate with those we are around the most. We are naturally exclusive. Today’s workforce is calling us to be geographically inclusive! By doing so, we can increase efficiency and drive results as diverse skill sets and perspectives come together toward the same goal. This is the Great Engagement that will put the Great Resignation to bed.

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#4 Have clear conversation about work from home, remote work, or in office requirements.

Today, whether employees can or cannot work from home or wherever they please is the leading dealbreaker. People are ditching commutes and heading to their kitchen table, home office, etc, and if you have been on Linkedin lately, you’ll know you can’t scroll through the news feed without at least one story or stat about how their productivity is drastically greater since going remote.

The work from home – remote work – movement has high influence and is here to stay. That being said it’s not feasible for every role in every industry. Know where you stand and have clear upfront conversations about this. Also, be aware that team members who have been working remotely for an extended period of time will have challenges transitioning back into the office grind. If they are ready to make the jump —how will you support them during this transition? Don’t pass them up if they are the right fit but have a plan! (They may not see the obstacle until they begin again)

#5 Give careful attention to detail when onboarding & training new team members, experience is both sensitive and critical!

51% of employees say they’ve been tempted to leave a new job due to a negative onboarding experience.
55% of employees want their employer to provide more education opportunities through an internal learning management system.

Next week as we continue diving into strategies to turn the Great Resignation into the Great Engagement we are going to talk about how to ensure 51% of your new hires aren’t tempted to leave due to their onboarding and training experience.

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We are rolling out the red carpet on the path to The Great Engagement.

How We Help

If you are considering adding to your team now or in 2022, HireLevel is here to help you cast a wide net so when you are ready to hire you have options. During the Great Resignation, let us be an extension of your team and drive engagement with our certified, equipped, and dedicated team at your fingertips using a tailored, data-driven recruitment strategy.

Having one solution and one partner for your entire employee experience is possible. At HireLevel, we unify recruitment and applicant tracking, onboarding, benefits administration, learning management, engagement and performance management, expense management and much more to stop the Great Resignation and help our clients grow from the inside out.

Whether you have 5 or 500 team members, we can tailor a solution to ENGAGE & RETAIN YOUR TEAM!