Let’s face it: Hiring good people isn’t easy. Our clients tell us that recruitment is one of the hardest parts of owning their own business, and that was true even before the pandemic transformed the workforce.
In today’s post-pandemic world, countless contractors are struggling to hire and retain qualified employees. From unqualified applicants to high churn rates, it can feel impossible to keep enough HVAC techs on staff to meet your daily needs.
The good news? Transforming your recruitment process is easier than you might think, and you don’t have to sacrifice blood, sweat, and tears to find winning HVAC techs. Recruitment marketing can help you get noticed by the right people when you need them most—all while eliminating the guesswork and drastically reducing your time to hire. Sounds like a win-win, right?
When you harness the power of recruitment marketing, you’ll boost your chances of finding the right people for your company. Here’s how to break through the digital noise and recruit top trade talent.
If you’re struggling to recruit skilled candidates, you’re in good company. Sure, it’s not surprising that good workers aren’t easy to come by—but most contractors couldn’t have anticipated the impact of the pandemic on the sheer number of workers who have left the workforce.
Even as techs return to the workforce, the talent shortage rages on. COVID-19 led to the largest 12-month decline in labor force participation since 1948, with over four million people leaving the workforce. Today, the number of open positions for skilled workers is higher than ever before—and even higher than the number of available workers.
What happened? The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t just highlight the obstacles of blue-collar work—it shattered the long-standing structure of the workplace. In Northeast Ohio alone, 408,313 workers quit their job in the past year, and another 330,282 are planning to quit this year. Your techs want a living wage, flexibility, and professional growth. And for the first time, they’re asking whether their on-the-job sacrifices are really worth it.
The truth is the shift in worker sentiment is shaking up the recruitment game—and it has been for a long time coming. Even with sky-high inflation and a looming recession, it’s hard to imagine this new worker sentiment changing anytime soon. And if you’ve been running your business for decades, you’ve probably already noticed that today’s employees think much differently from how they did just a few years ago.
So, how can you cut through the noise and show employees why you’re worth working for? Two words: recruitment marketing. In today’s candidate-centric market, you can’t afford to sit back and rely on a cookie-cutter hiring strategy. You need to level up your hiring game with a winning recruitment strategy to attract, hire, and retain skilled HVAC techs.
Maybe you already have a recruitment marketing strategy in place, but it’s not driving results for your business. You need to fill your talent pipeline with qualified HVAC techs, and you need to hire and train those techs before shoulder season ends. The clock is ticking. What’s your next move?
First things first: Start by auditing your current recruitment strategy to identify what’s working, what’s not, and what needs improvement. After you take a deep dive into your current strategy, it’s time to iron out your recruitment mistakes. Here’s how to get started.
Your employer brand matters, and the numbers back this up. During the consideration stage, 86 percent of job seekers research a company’s reviews and ratings. What does that mean for your marketing strategy? It’s simple: If past employees are saying bad things about your company, potential candidates are going to notice—and they’re going to head straight for the competition.
It might be tempting to skip this step, but a negative employer brand can wreak havoc on your recruitment strategy. In fact, 50 percent of employees wouldn’t work for a company with a bad rep—even with a pay increase. At the same time, a negative reputation can cost you 10 percent more per hire. The cost of weak employer branding is real, and you can’t afford to let your best recruitment asset sit on the sidelines.
How to fix it: Your employer brand is your strongest weapon in the world for talent. After you’ve conducted your internal audit through Glassdoor, Indeed, and social listening, you’ll have a better idea of your overall reputation as an employer. Then, it’s time to answer some key questions: What benefits do you offer? Do you treat employees with respect and empathy? What would your employees say to potential candidates?
Just a few years ago, a professional career page and glowing employee testimonials could make any employer stand out from the crowd. But today, word about your company spreads like wildfire. It’s not enough to just talk the talk—you also need to walk the walk.
How can you improve your employer brand? Start with your employees. Ask how they feel about your culture. Find out what they enjoy most about working at your HVAC company, and ask for their suggestions on any improvements. Sometimes, even small tweaks, like flexible scheduling or easy-to-use field service management software, can transform your company into a dream employer.
News flash: Your human resources team is tired. They’re writing job descriptions, interviewing candidates, and trying to fill open positions without sacrificing productivity. And if you’re handling all the hard work yourself, you already know that there’s only so much you can squeeze into the work week. That’s where marketing can be your recruitment MVP.
After all, both departments have similar objectives—they’re just communicating to different audiences. Your marketing team handles the company brand, while HR takes care of your employer brand. Now, it’s time to bridge the gap with a holistic recruitment strategy.
How to fix it: Your recruitment strategy won’t get far without brand consistency. Your brand is much more than your brand logo, HVAC website, and services. It all boils down to customers’ and candidates’ perception of your business, and you can’t afford to confuse qualified techs with mixed messages.
To build a consistent brand across marketing and HR, you need to share branding guidelines with both teams. Your branding guidelines demonstrate how your company brand and employer brand communicate with your target audience. They include your creative strategy (think: brand logo, typeface, color palette) and brand narrative (tone of voice, brand positioning).
If you want to send the right message, both teams need to actually follow these guidelines to create strong branding across all marketing materials. That includes your job descriptions, mission statement, and careers website. It also includes internal communications, such as emails and interviews with candidates. Consistency creates credibility—and that might just be the extra push your candidate needs to fill out an application.
You’re already a pro at customer service. Now, it’s time to start treating your candidates like customers. You need to show them respect, make them feel comfortable throughout the hiring process, and recognize their efforts. When you go the extra mile to create a positive experience, your candidates will remember. Plus, they’ll build up your brand with glowing recommendations to family and friends.
On the flip side, if you leave candidates with a bad taste in their mouths, those candidates are probably going to tell people about their experience with your company. According to one study, unhappy candidates tell, on average, three people about poor recruitment. And if those people happen to be your customers, you might be waving goodbye to valuable business.
How to fix it: What’s the first step to treating candidates like customers? Rethink your job descriptions. Just like product descriptions, they have the power to drive potential candidates to the next stage of the journey. Even a few wrong words can completely derail your top picks from the hiring process.
Think of your job descriptions as your sales pitch. Here, your main goal is to sell top talent on the benefits of working for your company. Let candidates know why they’d be a great fit for your HVAC company, acknowledge on-the-job requirements, and give them a sneak peek into your company culture.
Once you’ve successfully “sold” your company to candidates, you need to stay in touch. You’re constantly prioritizing communication with customers—whether that’s answering Facebook messages, returning calls, or sending emails. What about your candidates?
To upgrade your candidate experience, make an effort to respond to candidates in a timely manner. Instead of going MIA after the application, thank every candidate for their interest and let them know what to expect. (Pro tip: With the right recruitment tools at your fingertips, you can automate communications so you don’t have to spend hours sending email after email.)
When you respond to candidates quickly, you’ll keep them engaged. And when you make sure nobody is left waiting for an answer, you can boost your chances of interviewing qualified candidates before the competition.
In today’s recruitment landscape, it’s not enough to post job listings and hope the right candidates apply. To grow your business with skilled HVAC techs, you need to show candidates that you’re a standout employer. And to do that, you need to make recruitment marketing your top priority.
Ready to streamline your recruitment strategy? Schedule a call with our partners at Main Street Recruitment to win the war for talent.
