3 Reasons You May Be Struggling with Recruitment

It’s tempting to blame all of the job openings on the market right now, but there are things you can do to increase your chances of finding the right people. 

This article was first published October 27, 2021, by HR Daily Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.

Having a hard time filling your job roles? You’re not alone. If it feels like everywhere is hiring these days, it’s because they are! That means in order to attract the top talent, your job description needs to stand out and your interview experience needs to be top notch. It’s frustrating to pour time, energy, and resources into recruitment, only to feel as if you aren’t securing your openings with the right people—or securing them at all. 

If you’re putting forth your A game and still not seeing the results you were hoping for, either in terms of job applications or accepted offers, it may be time to take a look at your process. It’s tempting to blame all of the job openings on the market right now, but there are things you can do to increase your chances of finding the right people.

Try and take a proactive approach to clean up your recruitment process and take some important steps towards filling yoru open roles. Think of your hiring pipeline as a hose: you need to find the kink where it isn’t working. There’s no point in fixing the end—like the salary—if the real problem is in the beginning, such as where you’re posting the job opening.

Walk through your hiring process and see where exactly things are falling flat. It’s the first step to improving your hiring rate and filling those open spots.

Are You Getting Enough Interest?

First things first—take a long, hard look at your job description webpage. How many clicks does it have? The very first problem you may be encountering is a lack of buzz or interest. You need to make sure you’re casting your net wide enough. Check out industry-specific job boards, LinkedIn, your social media pages, or other locations online you could be sharing the news that you’re hiring. Make sure your brand presence is in tip-top shape so that when people check you out online, they’re excited at the possibility of working for you.

Also, look at where your competitors are posting job openings. Simply google your competitors name and “careers”, and you can see the places they’ve gone to attract talent. This can be an incredibly helpful tactic to ensure that your job openings are getting in front of the right eyes.

You also might consider investing in social media ads. Although it may feel like a waste of money to throw cash at finding the right people, a simple ad on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram has the potential to connect you to an entirely new audience. If you really need to fill a position quickly and are having a hard time doing so, targeted social media ads may be something to consider.

Are You Getting Enough Applications?

Another important aspect to consider is the conversion rate of your application webpage. If a lot of people seem to be checking out your job description but not applying, have you tried to identify why that is? You don’t just want people to read your description—that step where they decide to hit “apply” is the most important part of the process.

Start at the beginning. Is there a tech issue, or another problem with your application system? Maybe it’s too complex or frustrating for people to fill out. Perhaps it doesn’t work on mobile, or specific internet browsers. By taking the time to ensure your description and application are technically sound, you’re eliminating a large barrier for potential applicants and making your applicant pool that much wider.

Next, look at the job description. Does it sound enticing enough? Did you make sure to include the most exciting roles and responsibilities the job has? Have you considered including some basic information about benefits and salary, or other perks such as remote work and retirement matches? Small additions like this can completely change a job-seekers mind when it comes to deciding whether or not to apply.

If you feel like the problem may be your job description, talk to some of your current employees and find out what they like about working for your company. Is there a way you could rope their words into the description? Employee testimonials can go a long way when trying to get a person excited about joining your team.

Finally, make your timeline clear. Include a date when you’d like to have the position filled by. This will help you secure applications from people who aren’t necessarily looking for a job change, but are excited about the chance to work for your company. Otherwise, those same people may just think that they’ll apply one day in the “future”, or assume that the process is going to take ages.

By specifying a start date, you’re implementing a sense of urgency that can be useful for getting your application numbers up.

Are You Getting Enough Accepted Offers?

Lastly, when you give job offers, are they being accepted? If you’re receiving plenty of buzz on your application and lots of completed applications coming through, but failing to secure commitment from applicants, there may be something wrong with the offer itself.

The easiest thing to do here is simply ask people why they’re turning your job down. At this point, they likely have nothing to lose and will be transparent and honest. You can then learn if the issue was the benefits package, the salary, the workload, the commute, or another factor.

But if you’re getting a wide variety of answers or mostly hearing personal reasons jobs were turned down, take a look at the details of the job position. Is the salary adequate with the market rate? Are the responsibilities laid out clearly? Are you willing to accept remote or flex work? These are the kinds of things job applicants are really looking for in 2021. It’s an applicant’s job market at the moment, and you’re going to have to make your position competitive in order to secure top talent.