‘Tis the season of shortages and increased supply demand; yet the labor shortage continues impacting different industries across the board. While the rising shortages started pre-pandemic, they are still impacting different industries today. If you are like most businesses in our industry, chances are that you are currently hiring. Attracting the right talent is not an easy task, but it is also not an impossible one to accomplish.

While it is true that there are more jobs than qualified workers right now, there are also more possibilities to build a dedicated team, while growing your brand’s success. The holidays tend to bring more sales and it seems harder to keep pace with shopper demand, reinforcing the need of the right talent on-board.

It’s A Job Seeker’s Market

The current labor shortages are not the first we have faced. A few contributors to these reoccurring shortages include large generational retirements, skills gaps, population shifts, urban migration, and employment incentives. So how do you, the business owner, overcome these obstacles? You have to view your job offering through the job seeker’s perspective.

It’s a job seeker’s market. Plain and simple. Job seeker’s now have more options than ever to seek their ideal career path, with the ideal benefits. More than ever, they are aware of the power their job skills hold, and the company they choose to take their talents to will offer them the ideal hiring package.
This holds true for businesses of all sizes; job seekers are looking for more than just a job.

As an independent retailer, you might fear that you cannot offer the incentive packages larger corporations can. Your hiring success begins with understanding your employees and their needs.
As a local business, you have a more personal relationship with each other, and that is something you should be using to attract the right candidates for your business. The question then becomes not how, but ARE you positioning your company as the place that a new potential candidate would like to work for?

Sure, it sounds simple, but it’s a little deeper than that.

Your Brand’s Value

A majority of the retailers and local business owners in our industry have poured years of dedication, passion, effort, and resources into building their shopper brand. Carefully curating the right selection for a business takes more than just an eye for detail, one must also understand the ever-changing market as a whole.
While putting effort into marketing, trends and fulfilling demands is vital for a brand’s success, business owners tend to put little to no effort into telling the story of why their business is a great place to work for. Don’t think this is true? A quick glance at a company’s website will answer this for you. How many of your competitors actually have an “about us” section that tells the brand’s story? Not many.

As a local business, you are part of a community by default. But are you part of the community or just have your brick-and-mortar location there? If you are actively involved in your community and have your communities support, highlighting involvement on your website works recruitment wonders. By telling your company’s story, you have taken your company’s culture and work environment and positioned it to be the key to making your business the place people look forward to growing their talents with.

What makes your business a great place to work?

If you’re willing to address this question honestly, you’re likely to learn a great deal about your business and grow from it. Addressing the list of your business offerings helps you start building your employer brand and could prove to be your greatest asset. It is not about just finding the bodies to fill spots on the team, you have to have right people for the right positions. In other words, don’t just hire for the number, hire for the value and the right brand fit.

Believe in the magic of hiring, and make it happen.

By: Janet Alonso

Marketing Director | Nationwide Southwest – AMG