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Employers' Top 6 Workforce Challenges
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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Recently, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business published an analysis titled: 'Mind the gap: Workforce challenges holding back Canada’s small businesses', detailing the multiple recruitment and retainment challenges small employers are facing across the country.
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The six most common challenges employers reported include:
- Lack of applicants available in our sector (69%)
- Mismatch between candidate expectations and job realities (e.g., salary levels) (57%)
- Difficulty attracting candidates (54%)
- Challenges in offering competitive salaries and benefits (e.g., labour market conditions) (50%)
- Mismatch between candidate skills and job requirements (47%)
- High competition for talent (42%)
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A quick review of this list likely raises a lot of concerns you get from employers on a regular basis. These might include that your clients lack sector experience; don't really understand the work involved; and have a general misunderstanding of the skills and experience necessary.
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Here's something to remember. Employers already have an vision of the ideal candidate. When you bring them anyone outside of their ideal candidate, they are going to be resistant.
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If you look at this list it really covers two areas: 1. difficulty recruiting the best candidates and 2. a general disappointment with the quality of the candidates that are available. Since high-demand candidates have little difficulty finding work, it's likely (more often than not) you are representing candidates in the second group.
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In professional sales, they encourage people to counter known objections. If I'm selling diamond rings, a known objection is going to be cost, so I counter with the investment value and the small cost of the ring compared with the emotional and personal consequences of the symbol.
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A professional salesperson will tell you this isn't manipulative, it's simply helping the individual find psychological and emotional justification for a decision they really want to make.
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In career development, it's easy to be immediately discouraged by our clients' rejection, but it's helpful to be able to counter specific objections.
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You need to find responses that work for you but here is a brief list of ways you might respond to various employer objections:
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No Canadian Experience: Client has unique international experience that provides different insights or ways of doing things.
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Too Little Experience: Why spend your time correcting the bad habits that another employer has instilled. My client is a sponge and wants to learn how you want things to be done.
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Not the Right Skills: In their past experience, my client has demonstrated a willingness to learn and try new things. In my experience, I believe they can learn these tasks very quickly.
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Lack of Certifications and Tickets: My client is very excited about this opportunity and is willing to complete these tickets and certification on their own time.
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Poor Personal Fit: My client is very excited about this position and wants to prove themselves. I'm sure they were nervous in the interview and could have presented themselves better, but if you are looking for someone who works hard and will be loyal, you can't do better than my client.
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I'll acknowledge that with each one of these responses, they require an enthusiastic client who wants to prove themselves, not someone who wants a job, any job. Nevertheless, if we can work to ensure our clients meet these responses whenever possible, it gives us somewhere to start.
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I don't think we should stick our foot into the door of an employer who is trying to close it and I don't think we harass employers, but I think we can all agree that from time to time an employer will hire someone who's not their ideal candidate and is pleasantly surprised. This is our best opportunity to make a strong pitch for our clients.
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It is possible, that none of these arguments are going to sway an employer and the easy thing to do is to walk away and try someone else.
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The hard thing is to try to support this employer even if they aren't going to hire your client.
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With each one of the six workforce challenges, there is an approach; an attitude; or a perspective that can radically change how an employer recruits:
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Lack of applicants available in our sector: Utilize tools such as LinkedIn, mentorship groups and program graduates to approach potential candidates who aren't currently seeking employment.
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Mismatch between candidate expectations and job realities: Provide job shadowing opportunities for candidates prior to interviewing them. Give them an opportunity to meet with someone already doing the job to get a sense of the actual day-to-day responsibilities.
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Difficulty attracting candidates: Sharpen your job posting skills; utilizing multiple job posting platforms and providing as much information as possible. Candidates will often ignore job postings that lack salary information, occupational details and a closing date. It's also valuable to provide rewards to staff and clients who make referrals, have open in-person application days and to promote job postings through your social media network.
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Challenges in offering competitive salaries and benefits: Balance salary expectations against other perks and benefits. Employees will often take a position that pays less if it provides flexible scheduling, hybrid employment and performance incentives.
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Mismatch between candidate skills and job requirements: The best person on paper isn't necessarily the best candidate. The person new to the country, new to the job market or new to the industry might be a better fit for the team or customers; have a better attitude or be willing to work harder than your ideal candidate.
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High competition for talent: What are you doing to establish yourself as an employer of preference? Write down a list of your main competitors and write out the five or six things that make you a better employer than all of them. This is now your 'unique sales proposition' and can be included in job postings, on your website, in social media and in every interview. It's easy for employers to forget they need to sell themselves and getting job candidates isn't an automatic expectation.
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I'm sure you're wondering, why on earth you should be helping an employer hire someone who isn't my client?
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Once an employer has thoroughly rejected your clients, you have nothing. Spending time helping an employer find the candidate they most want helps build trust and relationship. It establishes your subject matter expertise and encourages them to trust your advice.
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The reason there is a 'hidden job market' is because people would rather trust someone they know rather than the unknown of the job market. This is why traditional recruitment relies on the best candidate on paper while the hidden job market relies on intuition and trust. The unusual candidate who has some challenges to employment gets the job through in the hidden job market.
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Helping employers hire their ideal candidate today may mean they will trust you enough to hire your clients tomorrow.
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If you focus on the employers who'll likely hire your clients with little objection, it limits your role in the community and your circle of influence. If you cheerfully support all employers, your reputation will grow and more employers will trust you. Trust is the currency of the hidden job market.
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We’ll be discussing employer workforce challenges and how to overcome them at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Monday June 16th at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland.
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On the morning of Monday June 16th 'Click this Link' to join the session LIVE.
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