THE RACE: Hiring in a candidate-driven market

THE RACE: Hiring in a candidate-driven market By Stephanie Hood

Whether you are a manager seeking to hire personnel or a candidate looking to change jobs, this information is for you!

• Hiring managers should know how to attract and retain high-quality talent during a candidate-driven market, right? Ready½start your engines!
• Job seekers should stay abreast of market changes to understand how to best position themselves. Red, yellow, green½GO.

BY THE NUMBERS Half of the 10 fastest-growing cities in America are here in Texas, of which Houston is ranked #2 in the US over all.  In 2012, per the Houston Business Journal, Houston adds approximately 125 people each day, which is likely due to a continuously booming economy and a labor force with 2.7 million jobs.

As we look towards the end of the year and prepare for the next, companies should seek to capitalize on this influx of new talent, but it is also important that employers take note that the job market has been "candidate-driven" throughout 2013 and will continue to be in 2014. How can companies attract and retain the right employees?

To illustrate how to capture the interest of top-level candidates, it is important to understand the employment racetrack.

CAR Much like picking a winning racecar, hiring managers seek to identify high-performance employees who can quickly produce positive results. There are important factors for managers to consider for finding such candidates, such as:

• Job description: Do I have a job description that accurately depicts the attributes I am seeking?
• Salary/Rate: Do I have the necessary budget to hire this type of talent?
• Resources: Should I consider using resources such as a recruitment company?

TRACK It is important that managers understand their company's "track" for the hiring process, which includes being mindful of interview procedures, budget, workspace, and ensuring that all necessary approvals are in place.

SPEED Buckle up because this factor - speed - is often the most critical. Due to the downturn of the economy a few years ago, many companies became accustomed to being bombarded with resumes each time they posted an open job position. Although there has been a major shift in the employment market recently, there is still lingering lethargy within many companies' hiring practices, which can be detrimental to attracting the best talent. If managers want to hire high-level talent, they should know the answers to these questions:

• Timeline: What is your urgency to fill this role?
• Interviews: Are all managers/decision makers for this role available to conduct interviews in a timely manner? When?
• Hire: Do you know the duration of your company's hiring process from offer letter to start date?

CHECKERED FLAG In a typical car race, the goal is to be #1, but when it comes to hiring decisions, the company should feel confident that they gained a valuable asset and the employee should feel like they now have an opportunity to contribute to a team so that both the employer and employee are "winners."

TROPHY Congrats, you have made it to the winners' circle! Now what? Once a company has attracted the right talent, it is imperative to retain quality employees through ongoing commitment such as:

• Training & development
• Benefits
• Annual reviews

VICTORY LAP Even with extensive experience in recruiting industry, my Clearpoint colleagues and I can hardly recall a time when candidates were consistently receiving multiple offers, but currently, we are seeing it every day! The market is hot for skilled employees saying, "I feel the need½the need for speed!" Ok, maybe candidates don't express those sentiments verbally, but companies cannot continue to be complacent and drag their feet.

FINISH LINE.

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