Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/543722
24 | /INSIGHT ON MANUFACTURING • July 2015 w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m local facility? Can an applicant save and continue later? Companies are losing applicants because their online system is not user-friendly. e computer lab staff in our job centers know the quirks of these systems all too well. ere are a lot of them. • en, take a lean process approach to how applications are processed in your company. Where are the bottlenecks? How are talent, time, resources and energy being wasted in unnecessary steps? At a time when people are choosing companies as much as companies are choosing people, what is the applicant's experience like? I have seen applicants handed a paper application and told to sit down in waiting areas the size of a closet with battered old furniture and other activity around them. Consider: Is there someone available to answer questions? Are your front- end staff members friendly, coached in customer service, or bilingual? How quickly are you getting back to them? What would make the applicant want to come back to your facility? For online applications, who is reviewing them? Is a computer program prescreening them? What is the response time? Whom are you turning away? In a shrinking labor market the next bunch of applicants will be smaller, and the group aer that smaller still. How might you screen people instead of THERE IS A STORY IN THE Hebrew Old Testament about how, during a time of drought and famine in Israel, the great prophet Elijah possessed a jar of oil that never emptied. No matter how much he used, the jar was always filled. I think many of our employers believe the supply of applicants for jobs works the same. ey think no matter how many applicants they go through, there will always be more. Welcome to the second decade of the 21st century — those days are gone. Demographic changes such as baby boomer retirement and an expanding economy are creating a situation we have not experienced in our lifetimes. e bottom line: e applicant pool is drying up. It will continue to do so for the coming decade, with 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day in the United States during the next 15 years. Employers who want to find qualified workers will have to rethink how they recruit and they will have to change their hiring behaviors. Here are a couple of ideas: • Start by going through your own online application process. I suggest having top management do this. Is the application button even easy to find? Is it clearly marked? How many clicks before a job seeker can actually start an application for an opening at a Help wanted In a shrinking labor pool, employers should take a second look at applicants INSIGHT FROM ... JIM GOLEMBESKI