For organizations, February has traditionally meant hiring season. In 2022, things look different.
With low unemployment, workers are reconsidering what they want out of a job. Are employers keeping up?
Savvy employers are taking a more mindful approach to recruiting, hiring, and retaining the best employees.
Help Wanted: A New Approach to Hiring Season
The start of a new year is traditionally the start of a “hiring season” for businesses in the U.S., but 2022 may be anything but traditional. Employers can expect new challenges, considering a pandemic that refuses to go away, rising wages, and low unemployment. While managers may have started their hunt in January, February is considered the peak month for hiring.1
None of that means new — good — employees aren’t being hired. Over the 12 months ending in November 2021, 74.5 million Americans were hired to new jobs.2 But employers seeking the best new hires, while avoiding employee turnover, may have to do more than hang a sign in the window. “Help Wanted” may not cut it anymore. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged workers to reconsider their core values such as work-life balance, health insurance needs, and job satisfaction.3
Of course, the easiest employee to “hire” is the one a business already has. If everyone else is tempting your employees, it may take some effort to keep them.
As they develop retention strategies, human resources professionals and executives are eying multiple factors, including better employee communications, pay equity, workplace mental health, and extending the flexibility of working from home employees enjoyed throughout the pandemic. The National Bureau of Economic Research found pandemic-induced work from home arrangements boosted U.S. worker productivity, so maybe concerns about workers goofing off at home was misplaced.3,4
Hiring (the Right) People Matters
Getting workers in the door is important. But getting the wrong employee can be expensive. More than a third of new hires quit within the first month.6 That can cost up to 33% of an employee’s salary, considering the amount of time and effort spent hiring them. So, if an employee making $50,000 a year walks out the door, imagine $16,500 following right behind.5
Then there’s the cost of starting the hiring process over. For hiring skilled employees, using a recruiter can cost up to 25% of the employee’s yearly salary. Even for lower-skilled positions, relying solely on internal staff, costs can reach about $4,000. Consider the cost of placing ads on online job boards, interviewing, background checks, onboarding and training, associated paperwork. It adds up. Sure, filling the job matters. But getting it right matters, too.7
The numbers hint hiring might not be easy this year. United States unemployment — workers without a job — dipped below 4% at the end of 2021, approaching what economists consider “full employment.”8
But there are steps organizations can follow to help them land the right person on the first try. With workers thinking about how a job fits into their life, hiring could feel different from the “way we’ve always done it.”
Consider researching the market and learning what your competitors are offering. With both wages and inflation on the rise, are you offering a competitive wage?9 And with more competition for workers, successful organizations are being mindful about the hiring strategy — whether that’s going it alone, using an online job board, or a recruiter. Either way, the job descriptions should be thoughtful, enticing, and complete. And when it comes to interviewing, time is short, and other organizations are looking for the perfect employee, too. A bloated, multi-step interview process may let a fine catch off the hook.10
And more employers are posting salary ranges in job postings. Workers appear to have the upper hand, and nobody wants to waste time. If you offer a good wage, why not say so?11
A 2022 Resolution: This Hiring Season, Listen to What Workers Want
If the pandemic really did shake up the snow globe of work, maybe employers really don’t know it all. What better way to retain current employees and land the best new prospects during hiring season than to listen and learn what employees want.
Tim Minahan, executive vice president of business strategy at global workplace software innovator Citrix, analyzed the results of his company’s 2021 worker survey for the Harvard Business Review. The survey gauges the pandemic’s impact on hiring and retention and offers insights to hiring managers as we approach “hiring season.”
The bottom line, Minahan found, is that organizations that want to attract and retain talent need to understand the new reality of worker expectations and priorities.
Flexibility: Workers are in control, and they got a taste of what they want with a strong focus on quality family time and work-life balance, whether that means flexible hours or work-from-home opportunities. Minahan wrote, “To position themselves to win in the future, companies will need to meet employees where they are.”
Metrics: There appears to be a divide between organizations and employees over how productivity is measured. Instead of focusing on meaningless numbers, employees want employers to focus on actual goals and results. Meanwhile, more than 30% of Human Resource (HR) managers say their organization does not see it that way.
Learning and Development: An overwhelming number of surveyed workers felt they’d need new skills to maintain an advantage in their field. Organizations that prioritize training and education stand to attract and retain top talent, boost employee motivation, and attract the best recruits.12
Minahan concludes, “The last year has forever changed the way employees view and approach work.”12
A New Approach
Heading into hiring season this year, employers may need to recognize the pandemic has moved some pieces around. It’s changed the way people work and view work. And video conferencing appears to be here to stay.13
Organizations are helping employees upgrade home offices, and work-from-home arrangements appear to be boosting productivity, cutting back on workplace watercooler chit chat, and reducing unproductive time by up to 10 minutes a day. At the same time, home offices have helped workers eliminate commutes, allowing more time to enjoy home-based hobbies and exercise.14,15
Once new hires are in the door (in the office or at a home office), organizations committed to retaining talent may also want to examine their new hire onboarding programs. A slipshod onboarding process built solely on HR forms and quick introductions can shed workers, while one survey found nearly 70% of employees who stayed on the job for three or more years cited a positive onboarding. Some successful organizations are exploring creative onboarding tools such as team-building exercises, games, videos, and walking tours, laying a foundation for long-term mutual success, engagement, and loyalty.5,16
All this means organizations appear to be heading into a hiring season like no other. New worker priorities, advances in technology, shifts in work-from-home attitudes, and a tightening labor market may favor organizations that adapt and innovate in the hunt for the best talent.
Things to Consider:
For employers, it may be time to revisit recruiting and hiring practices.
Having trouble hiring? Maybe your organization isn’t offering what today’s workers want and your competition is.
Before posting a job, review the job description. Is it really selling the position and the organization to potential recruits, or is it just a “Help Wanted” sign?
Transamerica Resources, Inc. is an Aegon company and is affiliated with various companies which include, but are not limited to, insurance companies and broker dealers. Transamerica Resources, Inc. does not offer insurance products or securities. The information provided is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as insurance, securities, ERISA, tax, investment, legal, medical or financial advice or guidance. Please consult your personal independent professionals for answers to your specific questions.
