Where the world is reeling from the big technical giants laying off employees, many companies are channelling their potential towards hiring laid-off employees. It is an opportunity for the laid-off employee and the present company to present their best selves at the centre. There could be ample reasons behind laying off employees.
The most common among those are companies incurring constant loss and preferring cost cutting. In this wave, a company lays off even the best employees.
And thus, other best technical giants can leverage the opportunity to hire top talent for their firms. Many companies struggle to clock the best person for the vacancy even after conducting continuous hiring or walk-ins.
Recruiters must change their overall outlook toward hiring laid-off talent. They must understand the fine line between being laid off and being fired from the company.
Also, please refrain from taking any undue advantage of their circumstances by offering far less than they are worth.
The blog talks about how to approach laid-off employees while hiring.
How To Ensure Long-Term Loyalty with Laid-Off Talent Acquisition?
Organisations need to re-consider their work culture and ensure a holistic roadmap towards hiring and nurturing talent in their office. It must provide a supportive work culture and environment where people help ensure job satisfaction and restore employee trust.
Here are some approaches that you can take while hiring laid-off talent:
1) Prioritise your sensitive self while hiring
When hiring laid-off employees, a human resource must prioritise emotional connection before everything else because such individuals are still in confusion, shocked, hurt, and scared at the same time.
After dedicating good years to their previous companies, they were immediately laid off.
Instead of treating them as inferior, a supportive touch would help them feel confident about themselves and their shared skills. It would help you conduct a better analysis of their skills and experience.
2) Do not wait for the laid-off talent to catch you
Earlier, laid-off employees used to hide their employment status from potential employers.
However, with the increased awareness and curiosity regarding the mass layoff, employees are increasingly voicing their concerns on popular social media platforms like LinkedIn.
And to utter shock, these people do not rant about the previous employer’s injustice. Instead, they regularly post about the skills they share and how they could be helpful to other potential employers regarding the same.
Undoubtedly, it requires a good level of resilience to be open up about the laid-off and future expectations with the firm they work with.
One way to approach this talent type can be by filtering out the hiring. Search by the specific company conducting mass layoff and by the post you are searching for.
It would help you recruit the needy laid-off employees in the best way. And approach them first.
Please do not wait for them to discover you. Analyse where you can spot the actual talent. After that, you can reach them directly to continue the process.
3) Offer job security and growth opportunities
Many companies believe that laid-off employees look only for salary hikes and job security. However, it is not entirely true.
Apart from looking for reasonable salaries, they prefer employers with a healthy work culture and growth opportunities. You must act quickly, as some firms will hire one of the top laid-off talents sooner or later.
So, research the things that scare the laid-off employees the most and work on aspects that could make you a comfortable place to work in the employees’ sight.
Today around 75% of employees want to work with a company that aligns with their values, hosts a friendly culture and offers work-from-home flexibility.
Be on top of your answers regarding how you plan to support their dreams and growth ambitions. When you are searching for the top talent possible, going the extra mile would only help you clock one successfully.
4) Reveal “yourself” in a good light and top brand
As an employer, you always ask the potential employee, “Why should we hire you?” Likewise, a person also looks for valid reasons to offer their expertise to a firm and asks himself-
“Why should I work with this firm?” How does it help me grow in every aspect?
To counter this, you must work on your business reputation and policies. When times are hard and changing, one must ensure a flexible touch to policies. Think from the perspective of your potential employees.
What could hit them almost instantly to work with you? It could help you garner attention almost immediately. Reveal how you work as a team.
- What opportunities do you provide to existing top talent in your firm?
- What are the revenue numbers and promotion status in your firm?
- Do your employees complain about anything that you can improve?
By working on parameters like these, you can improve the workplace’s overall atmosphere and ensure growth-specific hiring.
Yes, things do not come easy and would require a lot of brainwork and capital to rationalise an ideal workplace.
If you cannot produce a good lump sum upfront, you can take the help of long-term bad credit loans to improve the faculty. Work on some prime aspects of your business and work atmosphere.
It would help you prepare an ideal place for new employees as the best welcome. Yes, development may take time, as make repayment on these loans. Set up flexible payments alongside preparing your firm for the best team.
5) Analyse the resumes deeply
What does a detailed analysis imply here?
It implies- how frequently the person has been promoted in the last organisation.
What skills and experience does he share?
How can the person help your firm grow with the needed skillset?
Recruiters must analyse applications with a broad mind. Are there any individuals that are nearing retirement? If their expertise could be of help to you, approach them.
Thus, instead of merely looking at the laid-off status, you must look at the candidate in its entirety. Avoid using old strategies, and focus on the company’s growth by hitting the best talent.
6) Ask candidates about their expectations and goals
The laid-off period allows employees to re-work their skills and reassess their career goals and professional workplace desires.
Thus, HR must ask questions about their newfound self, the changed priorities, and expectations from the next firm.
It would help the company understand what precisely an employee desires. Here are some questions that an HR can ask the potential resource:
- What are you looking for in the next opportunity?
- What’s the most crucial role to you in your next part?
- What is it that you prefer the most in a working environment?
- What information can I provide you regarding the company as an HR person?
These questions help the interviewed candidate decide whether it is a suitable workplace. Moreover, it will also help the company analyse the employee’s expectations and goals they want to accomplish while working for the firm.
7) Be transparent about the company’s statistics
Does your company offer student loan assistance or tuition fee reimbursement?
Is there anything that you can do to help employees gain and nurture skills?
Be upfront about how you help employees grow in the company. Be upfront about the things you are looking for while hiring. Candidates prefer stability and reliability above anything. So, being upfront about the purpose of hiring will help the candidate decide quickly.
Bottom line
Specifically, sell them why the candidate must restart their career with your prestigious firm.
It is an extraordinary moment of reflection for the new firms hiring top laid-off talent. It is all about justifying the person’s presence in the firm.