Once upon a time, you didn’t have to look far to find employees for your organization. Even better, famous employees referred friends and family and helped launch many small businesses. Then 2020 came, and, like a nuclear bomb, everything we knew and did to find and retain employees no longer worked, and the recruiting world was changed. How can a short suspension change anything? “Anything” may be too much, but what DID change is the way we work, and we, as employers, redefine expectations. Those expectations are negotiated, subverted, reinterpreted, reinforced, and amplified by influences beyond our control such as social media.
The Cost Of Living Is High, But The Wages Are Not
The cost of a ceiling over a person’s head versus the established wage was one of the battlegrounds in the new age of recruitment.
Every market is different, but in our Miami market, one can expect to pay around $2,100 per month for a one bedroom apartment in a good location (not luxury, but good). In 2019 the same house would cost $1,300.
As a company, our employees are facing significant rent increases, and prospective employees should consider these increases when considering offers.
Although the dollar value varies from market to market across the country, this increase has occurred across the country. The explanation is a combination of high interest rates, a decline in real estate, the need for millennials who did not start or enter the world at a “traditional” age, investors outside the market, and so on. Home mortgages are the most important personal expense, rising nationally by 33% since the end of 2019.
So, the expectation of a better life is that the salary will also increase by 33%, and there is some residual. Fees do not follow the value of the home; they follow the Profit and Margin of businesses which is another matter.
A Double Front War
2020 was a small year of growth for many businesses, shown by the number of companies that applied for and received assistance with Covid Federal Aid.
The reality is that 48% of businesses that have acquired additional revenue either didn’t need it or took advantage of many system vulnerabilities and poor software management. This resulted in thousands of companies receiving a cash bonus and, seemingly “good,” many used the bonus to expand or add employees at the end of 2020.
In the tech industry, where most businesses don’t show legitimate profits because they’re invested in acquisitions and referrals, they double their workforce. This led to an unexpected tsunami of “how great it was to work remotely,” “free office space,” “gas pay,” “unlimited days off,” “free DoorDash Fridays,” and so on. These promises created a lot of anticipation. employers cannot fulfill, let alone encourage.
Now we have two wars; unrealistic expectations at work and improper payments to meet the change in housing costs. This so-called war has been exacerbated by remote workers who want to “live somewhere fun,” causing housing costs in some markets, such as Miami, to outpace housing costs in markets like NYC.
Is There A Solution or Help Ahead?
We can only raise prices as far as demand allows, and recent changes in interest rates have put a big fat “X” on people looking for bargains.
Household income has fallen by 5%, but more is needed to support wage growth, and people are still looking for jobs that are not available. The good news is that while recruiting good employees has been difficult and expensive, there are ways to fill positions.
To find the right person to fill a role, you first need to think about who you want and whether you are willing to hire an unqualified person and train them or if this person should be a high-level hire. While this may seem obvious, it helps determine the cost per employee to find and hire.
Nationwide, the average wage is $1,500. If you need ten employees, hiring ten people would cost $15k in marketing and expenses. This average includes Teachers and Nurses who can run $5,000 per hire and Quick Service Restaurant workers who run around $400 per hire. Depending on the level of education or skills you want, you can hire less, or if you want a highly skilled person, it can cost thousands more than the average of $1,500.
Don’t Lose Money By Finding The Wrong Employee
We’ve all tried and failed to find prospective employees by posting jobs in the Real Estate and hoping BOOM – Match! Not that it doesn’t happen, but we’ve all felt the cost of time and money spent on games that didn’t win with the people who used them.
To reduce this and improve performance, you need to job landing page or a vertical page for work. Here you can direct job candidates to answer important questions or perform skill tests so that you can weed out candidates who are not good enough without wasting time. You may also use the pixel to retarget or track potential customers with marketing messages, text messages, and email notifications to encourage them to complete a transaction or move forward with a subscription.
Know your salary well. Let’s assume that hourly wages have a basic rate. Have the same clarity about paid positions. It’s easier for people to get rid of themselves than to spend time enjoying someone else only to find out that they need double what you have to offer.
Many digital marketing activities are very effective in finding candidates. This includes Pay Per Click advertising in Google, Bing, and social media. Also, video advertising via YouTube or streaming on TV. One way would be to “steal” employees from other employers. How to do this is to geofence and advertise more than employers and the type of person you want but don’t want to attract. Use your benefits or salary to move them from Passive to Active job seekers.
The Importance of Appreciating Employees
Over the past year, we have worked with Retail, Healthcare, Government Agencies, and the Industrial and Warehouse industries to fill thousands of positions. They all need the same 4 or 5 things to be successful. Others require additional services due to special licenses or responsibilities. Plan to fill your open position in three months, plan events during that time, and build your recruiting plan.
Churn in today’s market is very high. Nationwide, Amazon warehouses are staffed with regular workers for three weeks. This high rate exists despite very high wages and benefits in many markets. Burnouts happen for many reasons, but the most common burnout now is boredom and feelings of inadequacy. Appreciating an employee or team is more than just a “Good Friday Pizza” or a Kudos board. Employees today want to feel heard and that their ideas and opinions matter.
Pa Orbit Interactive mode, we have seen great success in allowing the people we want to prepare as future managers the ability to manage a multi-disciplinary team. Within this, we hear the ideas of managing the work flow, sales, marketing, etc. Many of these ideas lead to bigger and better ideas, but employees feel like they are part of the system, not just a rag.
While we’re focused on helping you find the right people, remember that it’s important to do what you can to retain your people.
