Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Hyper Growth

Companies in the US are climbing out of the recession.  Hiring, recruiting, product development, and manufacturing are on the upswing.  Our domestic product growth is forecast to increase 3.3% per year over the next five years.  In short, things are looking up for the first time in nearly five years, and that is a very good thing.

For a few industries in the US, the market is actually flourishing, and companies are in hyper-growth mode, selling products and services nearly faster than they can keep up.  For job seekers who specialize or are interested in working in these particular verticals, qualified candidates can expect extremely competitive compensation and company perks as companies scramble to fill their human capital and recruitment needs.

Positive Job Market in These  High Growth Industries

The industries that are experiencing this rapid and high growth might surprise you like they did me.  Industries like pharmaceutical manufacturing, social network game development, for-profit universities, green and sustainable construction, and interestingly enough – the hot sauce production industry are among a handful of hyper-growth industries experience rapid gains this year in the US.

For hiring managers and recruiters in these industries, keeping up with the rapid growth and recruiting requisitions can be both demanding and overwhelming.  This is especially true if you have not previously worked in a mass hire and high volume staffing situation. How does one manage the recruitment and staffing workload for organizations and industries experiencing rapid growth?

• Develop an Emergency Recruitment Team. Work with your hiring managers and recruiters at different locations, regions, and facilities to lend a hand and a few hours of their time to select relevant assessments, sort through candidate resumes or interview.  Use a more project management team approach to hyper hire.

• Hire a Contingent Workforce to Quickly Fill the Gaps.  Consider bringing on a team of contract recruiters to help you fill staffing gaps immediately.  These trained professionals have a track record of,,sourcing, assessing, interviewing, and hiring candidates professionally.  Another option is to hire a temporary or contingent workforce for those open positions using a third party agency.  After an agreed upon period of time, your organization agrees to take those employees on as full time permanent employees for your organization.

• Use Pre-Employment Candidate Selection Tools.  Candidate selection tools like pre-employment assessments and skills testing can help quickly and easily determine candidate quality before the interview.  As a recruiter your focus should be on the most qualified candidates to quickly and efficiently fill those open positions.

• Create a Strategy to Anticipate the Need.  Planning and developing a strategy is best using company forecasts, industry trends, and historical data to anticipate your organization’s growth.  Look at ways to create build a candidate pipeline before your staffing need arise through a employee referral network or online talent community.  By developing a relationship with your job seeker audience before the need, they have time to educate themselves on the company culture and learn more about the benefits, growth opportunities, and industry has to offer.

What’s Your Mass Hiring & Recruiting Process?

Do you work in one of the mentioned industries above?  How are you handling recruiting, hiring and on-boarding in mass numbers?  I look forward to your suggestions by leaving a comment below.