The SITUATION:
Since many companies are currently dealing with the talent shortage for skilled and unskilled labor, it’s time to embrace and implement some out-of-the-box recruiting solutions as the more traditional methods become less reliable.
The SOLUTION:
NON-PROFIT AGENCIES
When people have come out of tough times, they often turn to agencies that can help them get back on their feet.
These might include non-profits who support people in transition from prison, women who are in shelters/programs after escaping domestic abuse, and addiction recovery programs.
One in particular, Dress For Success, empowers women to achieve economic independence.
Not only do they help women with their professional image and interviewing skills, they also have a 6-week personal development course in which all sessions are mandatory. In order to pass, you must attend every class.
By partnering with an agency such as this, a company would be aligning itself with a source of candidates who have proven that they want to grow and will show up to do so!
VETERAN OUTREACH PROGRAMS
When you have skilled jobs that need to be filled, consider this: the Military has over 7000 job positions across 100+ functional areas, and 81% of these jobs have a direct civilian equivalent.
So if you are looking to hire technicians, electricians, engineers, you may need to tap into your local source for Veterans.
Veterans coming out of the service will often be:
- Young, drug-free with no criminal record
- Trained and experienced in skilled trades
- Familiar with working in loud, chaotic and dirty environments
- Experienced with leadership skills
Why is that last one so significant?
Because much leadership training in civilian life is theory and classroom-based without much time to apply and practice that newfound knowledge.
In contrast, military personnel get to apply their leadership skills every day.
And because the Military places its members in leadership and managerial positions within 1 to 3 years of joining the service, the average 26-year old veteran has more years managing people than the average 32-year old civilian.
To see if there is a Veteran’s Outreach Center in your area, go to careeronestop.org and type your zip code into the “Find an American Job Center” search bar.
On veterans.gov you can post jobs at no cost. Militaryskilledtrades.com allows you to post openings for skilled trades at a low cost.
Last, if you’re serious about this as a possible recruiting strategy, check out the Annual Veteran Recruiting Conference happening in February 2019. veteranrecruitingconference.com
The RESULT:
While it is still recommended that you use a comprehensive hiring process to research the background, history, and experience of any one applying for a job, there are some success stories that give can’t be overlooked.
Ty Acton, President of Tingue (a global organization that manufactures and distributes products for commercial laundries) shared that Tingue hired two ex-Marines as successful reps who became Regional Managers in a relatively short amount of time.
While Dan Leonard, VP of Sales for Leonard Automatics, explained that at Leonard they have a very robust military recruitment program and about 20-25% of their organization is military veterans.
~ Nancy Roberts
The DISC Wizard
