Hiring Tips During The Great Resignation

In the cleaning industry, finding candidates — be it salesperson, warehouse employee, or truck driver — was challenging even before the pandemic. Factor in unprecedented resignation rates, and hiring managers are left with challenges more daunting than just beating out rival companies and parallel industries when it comes to securing talent.

Claudia St. John, president of Affinity HR Group, Jamestown, New York, notes that 4.5 million people (three percent of the total workforce) quit their jobs in the month of November 2021 alone — marking a multi-month stretch of similar resignation rates extending to this day. The reasons for the trend dubbed “The Great Resignation” are widespread, ranging from office employees experiencing work-from-home flexibility and then having it taken away, to workers who double as caretakers for at-risk family members for COVID-19.

No matter the reason, the reality is distributors need to do everything in their power to make their open positions appealing to prospective candidates. A huge piece of that puzzle is making sure jobs are presented in an attractive way, marketed correctly, have a seamless application and communication process with candidates, and lead to an interview that asks the right questions. To accomplish this, distributors must evaluate their current practices and be ready to adjust their approach for the candidate.

“Job opportunities need to speak to the candidates and present something that satisfies what they want, not what the employer wants,” says St. John. “And that’s a big shift for employers.”