By Daniel McCoy
There seems to be a shortage of qualified employees available in today’s worker’s pool. Potential employees today can be more selective than they have been in the past.
There are several reasons for this: College education has driven expectations of today’s employee base to a much higher standard; recent tightening of immigration laws has led to a smaller number of applicants; and the Baby Boomers are aging out of the working population.
According to a study by ADP Effective Talent Management, there are 75 million workers in the U.S. that will be retiring in the next 10 years and only 45 million in the talent pool to take their place. As one can see in the chart below, there are now more jobs than those unemployed to fill them, even if they were all qualified to do so. For every job opening, there is only .5 (half a person) to fill it, meaning there are twice as many jobs as people to work.
What can you do to attract talent? Much like selling a product, you must establish a competitive advantage. Your company and position must be more desirable to potential employees than the company down the street. Pay structure is especially important, but today’s younger job seekers are also looking for quality of life, benefits and time off.
Status, titles and pay are not as important to the employee of today as much as the quality-of-life component. Recognizing and offering the correct rewards will be instrumental in attracting new talent. While you still must offer a competitive salary, you do not have to be the highest-paying job on the job board anymore.
Different positions offer unique challenges. It is imperative that you have a job description before you seek to fill a position, so you know what qualifications are needed for the individual you are seeking to hire. If the position requires an advanced education level, you know that seeking applications on a general job posting site will be less fruitful than one that is specifically higher-educational focused.
While management-level positions may seem more attractive, the truth is there are skilled-worker positions that pay as well, if not better, and are in greater need. There has been such a focus on college education and how much it benefits the person in additional salary and opportunity that skilled labor training has declined over the last 10 years. But the need for these professionals has not declined.
Technical colleges are offering some of this training through certification programs but cannot cover all the needed vocations. So where can one go to find these types of skilled laborers?
Certainly, your competitors are a useful source of workers, as they have already given them the knowledge needed and experience. However, recruiting from competitors is not always a reliable source of the workforce, as they will in turn come after your employees.
The secret is to have such a competitive advantage that their employees seek you out. Spread the word about how great it is to work for you via social media and word of mouth. Do not limit testimonials to customers, but encourage your workers to review you, as well.
Another reliable source for skilled workers is the military. As troops return home, they bring with them a skill set that can be valuable to the company. There are programs to assist veterans and often incentives for the employer. The Warner Robins-based Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource Center (VECTR) assists in the transition from the military to the civilian sector. The center (gavectr.org) offers many services and can help you connect with potential employees.
Professionals often use LinkedIn as a source for both jobs and as a talent pool. You can easily search by job title to find individuals who currently hold the position searched or who previously held those positions. The site allows the posting of open positions, typically as part of their premium package.
Another source is the Technical College System of Georgia, which has several colleges around the state offering programs related to culinary skills and the hospitality industry. The schools have placement counselors who assist with the search of a position when the student is nearing completion. Certainly, the downside is that this person might lack real-world experience, but this is also an opportunity to train in the correct manner, versus having to unlearn and reteach when bad habits are present.
Colleges in the University System of Georgia, like Kennesaw State University (my employer), also offer culinary certification with training in everything from essential knife skills to plating and management.
According to KSU, as of May 2021, the culinary profession is expected to grow 9.3% over the next 10 years, with a median salary of $44,425.
The Georgia Department of Labor offers a tremendous job board, employgeorgia.com, with more than 215,956 jobs available as of June 1, 2022. Employers can go onto the site and register their openings as well. Anyone filing for unemployment in Georgia registers for this site and must show they are searching for a position weekly, so companies have a captive audience. Several counties also have job centers and work with individuals that are in job search mode.
There are the more traditional sites, such as Indeed, Zip Recruiter and Monster, that continue to be popular job search websites. For the food industry specifically, there are FoodJobs (foodjobs.com), Good Food Jobs (goodfoodjobs.com) and Careers in Food (careersinfood.com). Another popular site, Snagajob (snagajob.com) caters to lower-skilled positions.
There are still employment companies that will assist in the search for a fee. Snelling and Snelling is the largest staffing firm in the U.S., but there are others in the market, many of which are industry-specific. Food Staff of Atlanta, LGC Hospitality Staffing, Wellington Executive Search and TGT Global Staffing are a few of the Georgia staffing companies that specialize in restaurant staffing. This is often an option for the restaurant owner who has little time to go through the recruiting process.
For non-skilled labor, there are programs through religious organizations, non-profits and community organizations that can help match the labor up with an employer. One non-profit, the Georgia Center for Opportunity, works closely with soon-to-be-released prisoners, screening the applicants for positions in all industries like warehousing, construction and roofing and hospitality (georgiaopportunity.org/employment/prisoner-reentry).
Recruiting and hiring come down to marketing your company as you do your food. People visit your restaurant because they have heard good things about it, through word of mouth or they are attracted by your sign. Why not use these techniques when recruiting?
We’ve all seen the “Now Hiring ”signs in front of various food establishments. Why? Because it works. Use your current employees as a referral source. Maybe offer them a bonus if a recruit stays 3 or 6 months. Invite customers to apply. Be creative, as you always have been! Just as there is competition for the customer’s dollar, there is now competition for employees. You can win the battle with the right strategy.
Daniel McCoy joined the UGA Small Business Development Center at KennesawState University as a business consultant 2017, after a 21-year successful banking career as a Commercial/SBA Lender and Financial Adviser and 10+ years in upper management in the retail industry. He is a Certified Professional for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and recently completed the Veteran At Work Certification process. He is also a 2019 Flewellen Award for Consulting Excellence winner. For more on how the UGA Small Business DevelopmentCenter can help your concept, go to georgiasbdc.org or contact daniel at dmccoy@georgiasbdc.org.
