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In this episode of "The Impact Ripple," I dive into the complex challenges faced by employers and hiring managers in our evolving post-pandemic landscape. It's no secret that hiring has become increasingly tricky, with a staggering 77% of employers worldwide struggling to fill open positions, marking a 17-year high. We take a deep dive into the common hurdles employers grapple with when it comes to hiring – from attracting the right candidates to addressing the skills gap and combating the pervasive issue of candidate ghosting.

But that's not all – we explore the myriad of other issues plaguing today's hiring landscape, from chronic understaffing and morale problems to decreased productivity and increased error rates. I also explore the concept of "quiet quitting" – a phenomenon where employees mentally check out from work, contributing to higher turnover rates.

We don't stop there – I challenge three of the most common "B.S. Hiring Excuses" that are stifling your recruitment game. From the notion that "nobody wants to work anymore" to "you can't find good help these days," I debunk these myths and share actionable insights to adapt to the changing workforce's needs. I emphasize the importance of clear communication and the evolution of job descriptions.

This episode is a call to action for employers to revamp their hiring strategies and adapt to the shifting expectations of today's workforce, ultimately fostering a more productive and engaged team. Tune in and let's tackle these hiring challenges together! 🎙️💼

In this episode, we’ll:

• Discover the significant challenges employers and hiring managers are facing in the post-pandemic world, with 77% of employers struggling to fill open positions globally.

• Uncover the common issues encountered during the hiring process, including attracting the right candidates, addressing skill gaps, dealing with candidate ghosting, and navigating unstable labor needs.

• Challenge three prevalent "B.S. Hiring Excuses" that could be hindering your recruitment efforts, and gain insights on how to overcome them.

• Gain a fresh perspective on the changing expectations and needs of today's workforce, with an emphasis on workplace flexibility and transparency.

• Take actionable steps to redesign your hiring processes, leadership style, and company culture to better align with the evolving workforce, ultimately improving your ability to recruit and retain top talent.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Hiring Roadmap – www.sprouthr.co/roadmap

• Book a Free Call – www.sprouthr.co/call

Transcription for Episode 26 - Unmasking 3 B.S. Hiring Excuses That Are Stifling Your Recruitment Game

Ashley Cox (she/her) (00:02.074)

Welcome to the Impact Ripple Podcast, the go-to source for hiring and leadership made simple, doable, and fun for visionary female business owners. I'm your host, Ashley Cox, author, certified HR expert, and founder of Sprout HR. And I believe that you don't have to change who you are to be a great leader because you already are one.

Join me as we kiss uncertainty and overwhelm goodbye and say hello to the tools and support you need to grow a profitable, sustainable, impactful team with more confidence and ease. On today's episode, we are kicking off season three and y'all, we're gonna do it with a little bit of sass.

Over the past few years, I've heard from thousands of employers and hiring managers about how difficult hiring has become, especially in this post-pandemic world. In fact, a 2023 study by Manpower Group found that 77% of employers are struggling to fill open positions worldwide. Now, this is a 17-year high, and it's more than double the difficulty that was reported just in 2010. So if you've been finding it hard to hire, you are certainly not alone.

Hiring has changed big time, and employers are having a hard time keeping up. Some common challenges that employers are facing right now when it comes to hiring include attracting the right candidates, seeing a lack of necessary or needed skills, mostly in the social and technical areas, candidate ghosting, where a candidate applies, you reach out, maybe you interview them, and then you never hear from them again, which

75% of employers say they've experienced. And unstable labor needs, meaning things are changing quickly in business, and with it, the people needs of the business. The position that you might have available today may not be needed tomorrow, which is frustrating for both businesses and candidates alike.

Ashley Cox (she/her) (02:20.366)

And some other challenges employers are facing once they do have people on their team are chronic understaffing issues, morale issues, lower productivity, increased errors, attendance problems, employee stress and burnout, and so much more. And the new hot topic is quiet quitting, which actually isn't a new phenomenon at all. It just has a fancy new name. If you're unfamiliar with quiet quitting or not quite sure what it means exactly, it's basically when someone psychologically disengages from work.

They have no supportive bonds with coworkers, their boss, or their organization. Basically, their body is there, but their mind has checked out. And chances are, we've all experienced this at one time or another. Think back to when you worked for your worst boss or company ever. Did you really give it your all, or did you just do enough to get by until you found another job? But this is a problem that employers are dealing with today.

All of this, the quiet quitting, the employee stress and burnout, the low morale, the increased errors, et cetera, et cetera, all leads to higher turnover. Folks who start and then leave. In fact, in 2023, almost one in three employees leave within the first 90 days, which is up from one in four just a couple of years ago. We're going to talk a little bit more about this later in today's episode.

So clearly, something is not working, and it's not just on the employee side. The good news is, however, that it doesn't have to be as hard as we're making it. Things have changed, yes. And as employers, we have to adjust with the times, just like anything else in business. Every year, you hear about the changes in the social media algorithms, or rather, every other week.

The way ads are working differently, different content strategies, changing buyer behaviors. Everything changes. Everything evolves. And that includes how we hire. What you may have been doing just two or three short years ago isn't working today. I hear it all the time from our clients. They say things like, just a couple of years ago, I could post a job on Indeed and have 50 applicants in just a day or two. Now?

Ashley Cox (she/her) (04:43.918)

It's just crickets. And so we're gonna talk about some of the excuses that I've been hearing from employers, from businesses, over the past couple of years that are really just stifling your recruitment game. So we're calling them three common BS hiring excuses that are stifling your recruitment game. And let's go ahead and break those down today and what it means for your business and how you can move forward without these excuses.

BS hiring excuse number one, nobody wants to work anymore. So I'm recording this episode at the end of October, 2023 for a little context. And the latest report that we have from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics is from September, 2023. So this is the most current information as of the recording of this episode.

So the BLS reported that there are 5.5 million people not currently in the workforce who want jobs. People are looking for work. They want work. There are at least 5.5 million people here in the US alone who do, and they're applying for jobs more than ever. In fact, they're sending out 40% more applications this year versus last year.

So saying nobody wants to work anymore is a total cop out. And I'm here to call you on it. Typically, this saying is in reaction to employees' needs and desires for workplace flexibility and some of the things that they're expecting from their companies and from their employers that are changing. Rather than consider what it is about our workplace policies that are driving workers away.

We just simply conclude nobody wants to work anymore. That's easy, right? It's so much easier than diving in and exploring and trying to understand what's not working anymore. And believe me, this is not the first time that folks thought a generation had quote, lost its work ethic. Have you heard that? Here are a lot of folks out there saying, well, this generation, they've just lost their work ethic. The problem is that this sentiment isn't just harmless griping.

Ashley Cox (she/her) (07:07.786)

In a multi-generational workplace, having preconceived ideas about your employees or allowing it to fester among your workers based on their age or generation is unhelpful at best and damaging to the workplace culture at worst. Not only does it create unnecessary tension, it also prevents workers from enjoying the benefits that come from embracing both experience and fresh perspectives.

Employees' needs and wants are changing, and employers need to change with them. Employers that refuse to listen and evolve are struggling to hire and retain their talent. By saying nobody wants to work anymore and refusing to adapt to the changes in recruiting and hiring, we're essentially saying, this is the way we've always done it. Here's the thing. People want to work. They just don't want to work for a company where they're underpaid, under supported, and under appreciated.

As small businesses, we have a great deal of flexibility in how we structure work in our companies and an incredible opportunity to create radically different cultures than most folks are used to in the corporate world. So, listen to what people want, what they need. Think about what you desire in your own work and personal life.

Ask friends who are in the workplace, what do they love? What do they not love? And consider what can you do differently to speak to and attract today's workers because I promise you, they are out there and they want to work. Okay, VS hiring excuse number two. You just can't find good help these days. This one is similar to the first excuse and it's a total cop-out as well.

But there's a little more nuance here that we're going to get into. If you're struggling to find good help, it probably has more to do with a lack of clarity and or communication than anything else. And I see this all the time when working with clients. But the good news is we can fix this. Finding good help starts with a strong understanding of the role for which you're hiring, a clear, concise, compelling job description,

Ashley Cox (she/her) (09:28.478)

Making sure that giving candidates the details about the job that they want and need to know are upfront. So I love going on Indeed and LinkedIn and looking at various job postings at different companies. And my email is always blowing up for all these incredible jobs that are out there that I have no interest in. But I look at different companies, different roles, different experience levels just to see what are employers up to, what are they doing, and I'm going to be how is it working for them?

Because if you haven't noticed on a lot of these platforms, you can now see how many people have applied for this job. So there's jobs that'll say three people have applied and it's been posted for a month, or there'll be jobs that say 136 people have applied and it's been 24 hours. Clearly, something's working and something's not. And I can tell you that one of the things that is not working is not giving a candidate the basic information that they want and need to know about whether this job is a good fit for them.

Things like, how much does this job pay? What are the expected hours? Are there any perks and benefits? Just like with your social media strategy, your job posting strategy has to stop their scroll. You know what I mean when I say that, right? You're scrolling on Instagram or you're scrolling through TikTok and something catches your eye and you're like, ugh.

I gotta stop. I gotta see what this is all about. And that's what we need for our job postings, because there are thousands upon thousands of jobs posted online. What's gonna make someone stop and check yours out? And I don't mean some gimmicky gimmick, but simply by providing basic information. Because the reality is, most jobs in any given industry are about the same. They have similar roles, responsibilities, requirements.

So what most people are searching for when comparing jobs is the answer to this question. Does this company align with my values, my needs, and my expectations?

Ashley Cox (she/her) (11:47.918)

If I'm a candidate looking at two jobs that are virtually identical, but one tells me how much the job pays, even if it's a pay range, and the other one doesn't, probably going to apply for the job that's sharing necessary information up front so I can make an informed decision. Not to mention, being transparent about the role will not only help you attract better candidates, it'll save you loads of time sorting through and interviewing candidates who aren't a great fit that could have been avoided from the start.

Now, if you're including basic details and you're still not finding great candidates, it's time to check out that job description and make sure that you're super clear about what kind of support you need and that you're not trying to hire one person to do it all because nobody wants that job. As I mentioned before, strategies that worked just two or three years ago, aren't cutting it anymore. It's time to review your recruiting and hiring processes and practices and update them for today's candidates.

BS hiring excuse number three, you can't keep people anymore. You know, you often hear this one coupled with excuse number one. Here's how I usually hear it when a business owner or a hiring manager is saying it out loud. You just can't keep people anymore. Nobody wants to work. This one is a mix of a recruiting issue and a retention issue, which is why it made the list.

If you're getting candidates in the door, but they're not sticking around, it could be for a few reasons. If you think your hiring process is working because you're bringing folks in left, right, and center, but then you're finding out that they're not really a great fit once they start, then I hate to tell you this, but it's actually not working. This is a recruiting process issue and something you can usually cure with a little more clarity and refining your job description.

Again, the job description you used in the past that worked so well might not be cutting it today. Or the job has changed significantly in the past couple of years as your business has grown and evolved. Spoiler alert, and you might not wanna hear this, but I'm gonna tell you anyways, job descriptions aren't documents you write once and then never touch again. Truly effective job descriptions are living documents and they require regular reviews and updates.

Ashley Cox (she/her) (14:07.394)

Because I assure you, what you thought the job was when you wrote that description and what it actually is now are likely two very different things. And that's just the nature of business. As I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, one in three employees quit within their first 90 days. This is often due to something that Catherine Minshew, who's the co-founder and CEO of the Muse, has coined Shift Shop.

This is that unsettling experience or feeling that you get when the reality of the job is different from what you expected. And this is usually due to the job description not being accurate, maybe messaging on the website or company platforms doesn't feel super aligned, or information shared during the interview process is contradictory to what the actual experience is in real life.

Sometimes businesses get so desperate to hire help that they can oversell the position to make it sound a little more appealing. And I get it, we need to attract people, but that ain't the way. Other times, they're simply not clear enough about what the role will entail to truly give an accurate picture, so they give it their best shot. And it might not be totally true.

And in other instances, the leader may actually be the cause of the shift shock through things like micromanaging, failing to set clear expectations, avoiding holding their team accountable, and a host of other issues that stem from a lack of skill development as they've moved up and stepped into a leadership role. You can't keep people anymore, can have a host of root cause issues.

So pigeonholing it as solely a recruiting or hiring issue isn't wise, but it can definitely begin there. So I wanted to make sure to include it. While it may be absolutely frustrating that you can't keep people in your business and are experiencing high turnover, the good news is that there is always a root cause and therefore a solution. You just have to figure out where the issue is stemming from first and then take action at the right place and the right time.

Ashley Cox (she/her) (16:27.974)

OK, we have covered a lot today. So as we come to the end of our time together, let's do a quick little recap. If you've been struggling to hire the past couple of years, you're not alone. 77% of employers worldwide have been struggling too. There are a lot of factors that play into why, but the biggest one I'm seeing is that employers are failing to change with the times. They're expecting people to continue working in ways of the past that are no longer desirable.

And we have to evolve. And because they're not willing to evolve, the way their companies and jobs are structured, or to update their recruiting and hiring processes, they're finding it hard to hire and keep team members. And they're using some excuses that aren't doing them any justice at all.

So as a reminder, those three BS hiring excuses that are stifling your recruitment game that we had to set aside in exchange for something new are number one, nobody wants to work anymore. They do, they just don't wanna work for a company where they're underpaid, under supported and underappreciated. Number two, you can't find good help these days. Good help is out there, I promise, great help even, but you have to be clear about what you're looking for communicate it effectively in your job descriptions and postings, and give candidates that need to know information that they want upfront, like what they can expect for pay, hours, and benefits.

And finally, number three, you can't keep people anymore. While this can be a recruiting issue due to a lack of clarity and leading to shift shock, it can also be a leadership issue or a lack of leadership thereof. Explore the root cause of why people aren't sticking around to solve this problem at the start.

If you're thinking, okay, Ashley, well, where do I start? I recommend grabbing our free hiring roadmap. It maps out the exact steps I use when hiring with one-on-one clients to build their custom hiring processes in today's market. And it's the perfect place to start if you've been struggling to hire. You can download that hiring roadmap at sprouthr.co forward slash roadmap. We'll also drop a link in the show notes for you to make it easy.

Ashley Cox (she/her) (18:48.866)

As we wrap up for today and get this season three party started, it's time for our first round of our favorite final segment, Imagine the Impact, where we get to envision what it could look like for you to take action today. People want to work. They're applying for more jobs today than ever before. And they're not willing to settle because they know better options exist.

Options that pay for the value and the contributions they bring to the business. Options that provide flexibility for work-life integration. Options where they don't have to sacrifice their values or what's important to them to do meaningful work and be part of something bigger than themselves.

Imagine the impact that listening to what today's workers want and need, and then designing your hiring process leadership style, and company culture to meet those needs could have on your business, your community, and the world. We have an exciting season coming up for you. We'll continue the conversation around how employees' needs are changing and what we can do as business owners, how to train your team for success in ways they actually enjoy.

We'll dive into the world of artificial intelligence with some fantastic guest experts and learn how to implement it with our teams effectively, understand some of the pitfalls of AI, and the legal need to knows to keep you and your business safe. We're also exploring conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion this season, with some incredible guests joining me to talk about the importance of DEI in small businesses, and often forgotten side of the DEI conversation around disabilities and how to create more accessible workplaces and a fantastic conversation on how we can go beyond DEI to create more empathetic, compassionate, and collaborative teams.

Ashley Cox (she/her) (21:13.374)

Whew, we have a lot coming your way this season to help you hire and lead even more impactful teams, and I cannot wait to share every single episode with you. As always, thanks so much for being here. I hope that you found this episode helpful and that you stick around. And if you did find it helpful, make sure to hit that subscribe button and share an episode with a friend. Until next time, we'll see you then.