DEED’s Workforce Strategy Consultant team held an engaging December discussion highlighting different strategies employers can use to make an impact in filling workforce needs – even in a tight labor market. We heard from a panel of employers and subject matter experts who shared why active recruitment is essential for employers in their hiring efforts. Here are some snippets from the panel discussion:

Ali Bilden Camps, Strategy and Development Consultant, NORTHFORCE

• Casting a wide net and recruiting from populations that are often overlooked and underutilized – like veterans, second chance workers and older workers – is important.
• We’re currently working on a toolkit aimed at workers who have left the workforce due to retirement or who are caregivers, and it works as an internship for people looking for a new career path.

Jaime Herhusky, SHRM-CP, Senior Human Resources Administrator, Heliene

• You need to know your community to be an effective recruiter in your community. If you don’t know the population you’re targeting it really doesn’t do much good to just post online and expect results.
• We have a predominantly elderly population here and we hire a lot of newly retired people and you need to know how to connect with those groups if you want to be successful in hiring.
• I don’t get the newspaper, but people up here still read the paper so placing ads can help reach audiences you might not have considered.

Erica Brookshire, Talent Acquisition Manager, Park Industries

• It’s important to identify talent and know where to find that talent. Sometimes that’s recruiting right here in our community as well as going outside of our community to bring talent here. We also offer remote positions for niche positions if necessary.
• One event that’s great here is the EPIC career exploration events to connect with high school students to give them exposure to potential careers.
• It’s important to recruit not just for your immediate positions, but also for future positions. You might meet people who are not the right candidate now, but in a year or two they could be qualified and it’s good they remember you.

Erica Sward, Market Outreach Talent Acquisition Specialist, Lifespark

• It’s good to know the type of employee we want to hire before even starting the hiring process. That way you’re not wasting your time with applicants that aren’t a good fit for the role.
• Do some research to see what other companies are offering for benefits and how other places are posting their job positions.
• We’ve added our job recruiters’ contact info on our job posts so people can reach out and learn more about what that job looks like.
• You also need brand awareness. From using Facebook to placing hiring signs on lawns, people need to know who you are so they can get curious about what your company is all about.

View a recording of this session and other past sessions, plus access a schedule for upcoming Workforce Wednesday sessions on the Workforce Wednesday page on CareerForceMN.com.