How do you hire in a worker shortage?

IF you frequent any local cafe, it’s likely you’ve seen job vacancies advertised on the business’ front window.

Hospitality is just one of many industries across the region, and country, experiencing the strain of a large-scale worker shortage.

Employee Matters employment specialist and author of From Hire to Fire & Everything in Between, Natasha Hawker, said the current applicant market is the tightest she has seen in 29 years, and recruitment is particularly difficult in regional areas.

“The vast majority need more employees,” she said. “Employment rates and immigration rates are at record lows so that’s part of the problem, but there are a number of issues out of an employer’s control.

“Employers have to give themselves the best chance to win the war for talent, and the challenge is that they lack the sophisticated recruitment skills they now need to do this.

“They need to get better at attracting and securing the best talent, and you can find employees if you do recruitment differently; not just recruiting for the job, but trying to attract people to the region.”

BGT Jobs and Training’s business development manager Julie Butler said her staff must think outside the box when supporting employers to addressing the skilled candidate shortage.

“We go out to all the schools, we talk about different career paths, and have set up programs for students to start apprenticeships while they’re still at school,” she said.

“We have a vacancy list we send to everybody; schools, job actives, apprenticeship support, everyone in the community, and we work with Workplace Australia so we’re all on the same page about how we can get people back into work.

“Schools contact us when they’ve got a student looking for an apprenticeship, we’ll meet with them, make sure their resume’s good, give them interview techniques, and get them out there.”

Businesses often contact Ms Butler with vacancies they can’t fill themselves, and BGT take on the recruitment process, using “every means of advertising” to get candidates to an initial meeting.

“Any group we can tap into, that’s what we’re doing, but Ballarat as a community has come together. We’re all on the same page. Whatever we can do to get people in jobs,” she said.

Aiming to fill skilled worker vacancies in Ballarat’s manufacturing sector has been a large project for Ms Butler and BGT.

“Lots of businesses are wanting engineers, which is good. We’ve got our cert II school-based program at Barkly Square for the students to get some training two days a week,” she said.

“If they like it, they roll into an apprenticeship and we can place people in businesses.”

Goldacres is one of the local agricultural manufacturing groups supported by BGT, and human resources and recruitment staffer Eliza Miller said the company is working hard to attract skilled welders and fabricators.

“We’re fairly unique because we’re a family owned and operated business, so we have the ability to act quickly in advertising job vacancies, and the family is very open to trying new things to attract people,” she said.

“We want to keep our employees here happy, so we do monthly lunches and have social clubs, alongside the money side of things. Making sure it’s a good place to work with a good culture.”

Besides manufacturing, Ms Hawker said the health, aged care, hospitality, and trade sectors are finding employment particularly difficult in regional areas, and employers should be head-hunting.

She said they need to be clear on what their employee value proposition is. What’s in it for the candidate, what’s attractive, and what values and benefits will retain them beyond money?

It’s also important that they prepare for interviews as much as the candidates, sell the job in the process, and respectfully correspond with all applicants, even if they are unsuccessful.

“But number one, they need to be making sure they’re paying correctly,” she said.

“If they can offer slightly more than the award or have better working conditions, and they treat their employees with respect, that’s going to go a long way.

“It should be a fun place to work, not just a job. People will go above and beyond at a great place to work.”