Next up… the price you’ll pay for delaying or freezing your recruitment process. Not to mention, the stress you may endure as a result.
There was a reason you decided to hire. Whether that’s replacing a member of staff that’s leaving, additional headcount for new sites coming on-board or additional headcount to make the workload of your existing staff members more manageable (to prevent them from becoming overworked, burnt-out and looking for a new job). Whatever the reason may be, you made a conscious decision to bring someone else in because you need that extra pair of hands.
In the current climate, we find ourselves faced with a lot of uncertainty at present, with a big question hanging over our heads… how long will we be in this position for? Unfortunately, the answer is we don’t know. So, we can either completely stop. Freeze everything. Put everything on hold and wait. Becoming stressed by the workload piling up, the uncertainty and the fact we don’t know whether we’re coming or going. Or, we can use this as an opportunity to evolve.
Who says the only way to hire is to meet the candidate face to face? That you can only offer the job to someone you’ve met in person? Do we actually know that this is what is going to bring us the best results? Do you have proof of that? With retention levels dropping across the sector, could we perhaps try other methods of hiring that may actually result in hiring people better suited to our businesses, that are going to stay longer and ultimately strengthen our retention rates?
Do we have factual evidence that on-boarding a new employee over Skype doesn’t work? Do we have to sit across a table from them for them to know what they’re doing on the first day of their new job? Is there a justified reason we can’t implement a more innovative, modern method of on-boarding?
Multinational computer technology powerhouse, Dell has systematised the on-boarding of its widely distributed workforce. “We have all of our on-boarding materials in a digital format, including a website, documentation, and video. We also have a Day 1 success team that is dedicated to providing support via chat/IM, email, and calls during the early part of on-boarding. The feedback from our new employees has improved significantly as a result of this approach.” https://bit.ly/33wV7Fc
If Dell can do it, why can’t you? They’ve not invested millions into this. They’ve just put their on-boarding materials online. Simple.
If you’re not prepared to be solutions-focused and work with the current climate, there’s a price to pay.
Are you prepared to start all over again?
If you’ve read any of our previous blogs or social posts, you will have seen us talking about the candidate driven market that the Block Management sector finds itself in. For those of you who haven’t, essentially what this means is that the number of jobs far outweighs the number of candidates available to fill them. This means that the candidates are in the driving seat, they have the power. It also means the hiring process can be incredibly loooooooooooooong.
It’s taking a number of weeks, sometimes months for employers to find the right candidate (it’s only those that are willing to adjust their expectations that manage to find them within weeks!). As the Hiring Manager, you’ve spent countless hours reviewing CVs, holding interviews and so on. If you work out your hourly rate and a ball-park figure of how much time you’ve spent on hiring to date - what’s that working out as? Actually work that out! How much time and money have you spent on recruiting for this role? If you’re someone that looks at return on investment - where’s the return? If you’re putting your recruitment on hold, are you prepared to let that time and money go?
Other employers are continuing to hire and they’re evolving alongside the current climate. They are making offers via a video call and they do have plans for their new employees to start regardless of whether their first day will be spent in an office or from home. So, if you’ve seen a candidate you want to offer to, but “can’t because of COVID-19”, one of the other employers is going to offer them a job.
When we come out of this and you decide to go back to hiring, you’re then starting back at the beginning. Sifting through countless CVs. Seeing the same names that come up every 3 months. Interviewing. Re-scheduling interviews. And that candidate that you could have offered to? They’ve just passed their probation with the other employer and they’re now a fully-functioning member of staff adding value to their employer.
Are you prepared to lose existing employees?
At the beginning of this blog, I said there was a reason that you decided to hire. By putting your recruitment on hold, you’re not solving the problem you had. In fact, you may have just made it worse. Who’s managing the workload that the new employee would have taken on? If it’s your existing staff, you need to look at how manageable that’s making their workload. COVID-19 is having an impact on the sector too, communal gyms, cinemas, etc. being closed, AGMs being postponed and probably more calls from leaseholders going through to Property Managers. If you’ve decided you’re not going to hire the extra support you need, you may find that your existing employees become overworked and disengaged. During an already stressful time, are you potentially loading the stress on with more work? Are you prepared to potentially lose them and have even more roles to fill when you eventually begin recruiting? You can imagine what your recruitment costs are going to look like…
Employer Branding
It’s an employers dream out there right now. With some companies putting their recruitment on hold and waiting until COVID-19 is a thing of the past, it’s now your chance to stand out. Candidates want to work for a company that is different. So many Property Management companies have the vision of “revolutionising Property Management”. You’re preaching you’re a revolutionary, modern, technology focused company yet still not prepared to revolutionise your internal systems and hiring process. Hmmm. Candidates are still looking for jobs and I can’t stress enough, this is such a great opportunity for you to hire and to improve your hiring process whilst standing out against your competitors. It’s the perfect time to become a market leader!
So, my question to you is… are you ready to be solutions-focused?