Finding employees for our businesses continues to increase in difficulty. As small business owners, we all think we offer a great place to work and people would want to work for us. When we don’t get the applicants we want, it not only holds our businesses back, but it bruises our ego. That leaves us saying things like, “No one wants to work!” and “Why are only “losers” applying for my job opening?”
Why does it seem like no one wants to work for us and why does it seem like we always end up with less qualified applicants? There are a few compelling reasons.
Michigan finds itself in a tough situation where it’s had a flat or declining population for a long time. The population today is roughly the same as it was in 2001. We’ve seen some recovery, but it’s been a slow process. As of July 2023, the population in Michigan was almost 40,000 people fewer than in 2020, taking us right back to 2001 levels. On top of that, between March 2023 and March 2024, Michigan’s government, health care and education sectors grew their employment numbers by 40,000 positions. When you have a declining population and institutional employers hiring thousands of additional people, it doesn’t leave a lot for small businesses.
Another area of concern is the number of working age people who aren’t working or working the least amount necessary. If someone is able to live happily with minimal income (from freelance work, government subsidies, etc.), why would they work? Nuclear families – a family unit made up of two parents and their children – are also an area where we’re losing qualified applicants. The cost of placing two children in daycare in most of Michigan exceeds the average take home pay of one of the parents. Simple family economics, and the desire to be a good parent, makes it an easy decision to have one parent leave the workforce.
It’s not necessarily appropriate for us to blame either of these groups of people for not working. Still, we are faced with a monumental issue – how do we proceed and hire good people who will stay with our companies? It’s not easy, and contrary to advertisements, no one has a secret stash of people who want to work for you. It comes down to know how, setting proper expectations and effort.
Get the Word Out
The days of putting a help wanted sign out front are long gone. Finding an employee is very much like finding your next customer – you have to advertise and tell everyone you can that you’re hiring. Free job postings can work, but they don’t typically produce strong results.
A job posting is an advertisement for your company, so write it like it’s the best marketing piece you’ve ever created. You have plenty of room for text in an online posting, so go ahead and use it. Twenty years ago we paid per line in the newspaper, so the ads all read something like “Dishwasher wanted. 3pm to 11pm Tues-Sunday. Call Joe at…” and that ad would cost $200 to run in the newspaper for a week. Today we can write almost as much as we want. Grab their attention and tell them exactly why they should work for you.
Don’t Wait
When someone applies for your position, respond quickly. Again, just like you wouldn’t wait a week to call a prospective customer back, don’t wait more than 24 hours to reply to an applicant that looks like a good match. Just because you call them doesn’t mean you have to hire them, but at least you’ve started the process by engaging them in conversation. If you wait, some other employer is probably calling them. And even if that other employer’s position isn’t better than yours, the applicant will most likely feel more positive about that position because they were promptly contacted.
Be Upfront
In that first conversation, be open and honest about your expectations. If you have set hours they will need to work, tell them now. Be clear about benefits, PTO, pay, etc. Don’t over promise. If there’s little to no room for promotion because you are a small organization, be honest about that. The job market is going to continue to be tight and if they don’t trust you, or feel you changed the position on them after they started, they will go somewhere else.
This, however, doesn’t mean you need to pander to them, letting them walk all over you. If you were truly up front about your expectations, they willingly excepted their role with the understanding of those set expectations. The right employees get that, and understand and appreciate it.
Hire for Your Needs Today
Another fatal error business owners make is trying to hire people above the position they have. Those people tend to not stay long and don’t typically perform while they are on your payroll. If you have a position with no direct reports, don’t hire someone who has years of experience leading a team. Those people rely on a team, and if they won’t have that at your organization, they won’t perform.
The flip side is also true: don’t hire someone who has no or minimal experience managing direct reports to lead your company in your absence. If you’re saying, “I got lucky and found the perfect person at the salary I can afford,” you’re going to be pretty lucky if they don’t sink your company. Hire for your needs today, not what you hope your needs are two years from now.
The situation we find ourselves in is one where we are all competing for the same employees – there just aren’t enough well-qualified applicants to go around. On the plus side, every year new workers are moving into our state, people are constantly changing jobs and the people who left the workforce do return.
Be ready to spend five to 10 hours a week per position to ensure your employees are well-trained, actively engaged and want to stay. Unlike large businesses and institutions that have applicants show up daily, small businesses have to work harder to keep their employees.
If you take the time to define your roles, set honest expectations upfront, aggressively search for new employees and follow up with them quickly, you will crush your competition. They will be the ones saying, “Why doesn’t anyone want to work for me?” while your business stays staffed and performing at its best.
By Jason Verlinde; originally published in SBAM’s September/October 2024 issue of FOCUS magazine
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