The number one source of negativity right now across all my clients? Hiring.
I can’t find people who want to work.
It’s an annoyance and distraction to the rest of my work.
It’s sucking the life out of me.
The work just isn’t attractive.
There are so many resumes to weed through but very few good candidates.
This is such a specialty position, very few people exist.
I am never going to find anyone.
When this is the energy coming to the hiring process, it starts to act like a repellant. So what can you do instead to ease the burden on you while still facing the reality that hiring is here to stay as a responsibility of leaders?
Here are my top three tips:
First, stop resisting hiring as part of your everyday role and open up your mind. It’s no longer something you do every couple of years or only when something goes wrong. Even if you don’t have an open role, you should always be recruiting. Know where the best sources of candidates are at any given time and encourage your existing employees to introduce you to their professional connections. Don’t wait until you need someone to create your hiring process. You should always know what it is and refine accordingly based on changes in the market so you can initiate it at a moment’s notice. If you are in a market where people are really hard to come by, the way to win is to make recruiting your super power. Instead of whining about how hard it is, make it something you are so good at, you are the one who is turning people away.
Second, don’t wait until you are completely overwhelmed to redefine your schedule so you aren’t doing the most critical work at the times when your energy is lowest. For example, if interviewing drains you, then having interviews at the end of the week on Friday afternoon is likely not a good plan. Pick a time when you tend to have the most positive energy and schedule your interactions with candidates in those blocks. If you find that you just can’t seem to get excited about it, take a couple weeks off from interviewing, and re-energize before you get back into it. Wherever you can, look for ways to automate the process or give assignments that provide you insight into the candidates without taking as much of your time and energy.
Finally, be willing to have patience. Too many people are operating in a cycle of fear or anxiety around staffing and it is stifling their creativity. There are people out there for everything and they are not going to disappear tomorrow. If you haven’t found them yet it’s not because they don’t exist. It’s because you haven’t looked in the right place or said something to help them realize they are a match with what you have to offer. Keep reaching out. Keep marketing your role. Keep pushing forward.
Are you exhausted with your hiring process? I would love to coach you. Set up a consultation here and let’s discuss!