Advice for Employers and Recruiters
3 tips for small and non-profit employers to recruit and retain early-career employees
Steven RothbergFor decades, employers have been able to be fully staffed despite both treating and paying their employees like crap.
Now, they’re discovering that they can only hope to be fully staffed if they treat or pay their employees like crap but not both. Some employers are able to provide employment opportunities that inspire their employees every day. These employers can get away with paying their employees like crap. Other employers are able to pay their employees really well. These employers can get away with treating their employees like crap. But non-profit and other employers can no longer expect to be fully staffed if they continue to both treat and pay their employees like crap.
There are many tactics and strategies available to these employers, but three are:
- Understand that what candidates were willing to accept even a year ago is no longer relevant. In today’s job market, you can either treat them like crap or pay them like crap but not both. So, if you simply don’t have the money to pay them what they can get from another employer, make sure that their job is structured so they’re excited to come to work every day.
- If you think that you’re paying competitively by looking at what they’d earn in similar roles with similar organizations, think again. You’re now competing against every organization who would hire that person. If organizations like yours are paying $14 an hour and Amazon would hire them for $18, then the competitive wage is $18 per hour.
- Instead of hiring two people at 20-hours each instead of full-time in part to save money on benefits, consider hiring one full-time. Yes, you’ll need to offer benefits but the alternative is likely not being properly staffed.
