The irony of this post is that those who need it the most won’t see it.
Why?
Because their business practices haven’t kept up with the changing face of doing business, nor technology. They aren’t online, they don’t have business frameworks in place, their business was the bomb in the pre-social media days and their mindset is back there.
And I get it, in the early to mid 2000’s Kalgoorlie & the WA mining industry was booming. Skilled & unskilled workers flocked to town, no effort was required to find staff because they were walking through your door. Work was easy to get and there were very little hoops to jump through to get a lucrative contract.
It was the glory days, then it all stopped.
First the GFC, which had minimal impact on gold but hit nickel & iron ore hard. Then gold crashed, the downturn in Kalgoorlie really started to bite. Mining contractors had to cut tradies hours back, people lost their jobs, people left town.
Those that came here in the boom returned home to more stable industries.
But that wasn’t the only change, the Occupy movement had its moment and people started to look at corporations differently. Instagram dropped and suddenly the idea of posting travel & lifestyle pics for a bunch of strangers was highly appealing. People became more aware of their eco footprint, healthy living and mental health.
A high paying mining job was no longer a mark of success, instead people started looking for employers that could offer something more. Flexibility, career development, social awareness & responsibility, a great culture and the biggie – feeling like they were an integral cog in the wheel; an employer who regularly communicated where the business was at, where it was heading and how important it was that everyone helped them get there (and then got a thank you)
We also have 50% of the workforce made up by a generation who had parents or older friends impacted by the GFC and the continued downturn in business confidence. Theres nothing like being made redundant to drive home just how quickly a company will let you go when it comes to money.
Which brings me to the point of this post. Times have changed, the workforce demographic has changed and if you want to keep up, you need to change with it.
Yesterday I went to a business forum in Kalgoorlie, wandering around at the break I overheard a conversation.
“We’ve been advertising for an apprentice for weeks now and haven’t got 1 application. I tell ya kids are bloody lazy, you just can’t get them to work. We’ve spent thousands on ads on the radio and nothing”
😳
I’m 46 and I haven’t listened to the radio in a good 5 years. You’d be lucky to find anyone under 40 listening to the radio let alone the target market for an apprenticeship.
When I got home I googled the company – no Facebook, no Instagram just a webpage with an ad for the position that consisted of 2 lines.
Do you think the reason they had received no applications was because of those damn lazy millennials or because they were looking in all the wrong places?
Businesses are competing against FIFO – same pay with the City lifestyle. Competing against business who have been early adopters and are offering up flexible, lifestyle friendly workplaces. Businesses who are super professional with quality HR processes that give applicants and new employees great insight into the business and it’s expectations right from the first point of contact. Businesses who have a reputation of treating it’s employees fairly and strive to do the right thing.
Right now, the reality for many businesses is that quality candidates, or just any candidates for that matter, are hard to come by.
Whether that be because of a skills shortage, geographical location, that the vocation lacks a bit of “cool factor”, ineffective recruitment practices or the reputation of the employer; businesses approaching their talent acquisition efforts without having some sort of plan in place is an inefficient use of financial & people resources
What was working for you in the past may now no longer be relevant.
And so if you are wanting to improve your recruitment practices, or are looking for new ways to do things, here are some basic tips on recruitment, values based recruitment and considerations for your business before you post that job ad, and for something a little more comprehensive – Contact Me
Struggling to attract Kalgoorlie residential employees? I’m here to help!
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It’s time for HR to move beyond policies, practices and processes, HR’s value proposition to business is to ensure HR professionals and their practices’ produce positive outcomes for key stakeholders, employees, line managers, customers and investors.
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