Are the Talent Wars Heating Up in Nevada?

According to the American Staffing Association temporary and contract employment has grown 18.3% since the beginning of 2012. As reported in an earlier blog, 2012 was declared the Year of the Temporary. Research confirms that the staffing industry is an economic and leading indicator of employment. Can we see the beginnings of a battle for talent?

We’ve heard descriptions of “Talent Wars” returning in most industries -primarily in social media, medicine and technology. The Silicon Valley conveys accounts of extremely competitive and aggressive recruiting tactics used to steal skilled and quality workers. Here in northern Nevada we are seeing skilled and talented job seekers looking at more job openings and accepting jobs faster.

With hiring on the rise, employers are utilizing staffing services to aid them in sifting through hundreds of resumes, interviewing, and testing candidates to narrow the field down to the best of the best talent. More candidates are applying for positions in their chosen field versus over-qualified candidates applying for any position they can get to keep the wolf at bay. The luxury days of employers seeing a wide variety of high-end superior candidates knocking at their door is going by the wayside.

Yes, the talent wars are heating up and here are a few tips for employers to prepare for the campaign:

Schedule interviews as quickly as possible and avoid a too lengthy decision-making process. Right now, two to three weeks is too long. The quality candidates you see today might be receiving an offer from your competitor tomorrow.

Prepare your talent management strategy to include sophisticated recruiting techniques, well-developed and in-depth employee orientations and superb retention plans.

Be a splendid example of employee and business best practices. Attract talent rather than repel by being known for taking care of your employees and publicly recognizing them, competitive compensation, excellent leadership and offering development/training opportunities.

Written by Susan Fix, The Applied Companies Community Liaison Partner. Fix has worked 15 years in staffing services performing outside sales, recruiting, permanent and temporary placement coordination, career counseling, customer service and social media/business.