Drive through any metropolitan or commercial center and you'll see "Help Wanted" signs everywhere. 

If your job function includes filling corporate openings then you know the challenges we are all facing in this beginning economy. It’s not only those high-tech IT, medical, or engineering professions but forklift drivers, dock workers, and maintenance positions that are also going unfilled. So how do you find qualified applicants?

Everybody is looking for that silver bullet that will generate the candidate flow they need to fill their warehouse positions. The reality is that there is no such thing. Recruiting is not just about compensation, training, corporate benefits, employer of choice branding, creative ad writing, social networking or job postings. It is all of these things and more. It is a team effort that must include all aspects of your organization from senior managers, to your line managers, human resources, marketing, safety, and the like.

It starts with your corporate culture. What do your current employees say about you? About their managers and/or work environment? Do they enjoy their work? Is there cooperation between work centers or does your organization have a silo mentality? You cannot build a great employer of choice brand without being, at the very least, a good employer.

What about your benefits? Being competitive in this environment is a must, but wages, by themselves, are not the primary motivator when it comes to recruiting millennials. Rewards, recognition, flexible schedules, advancement, and training are some of the things that motivate this new generation of applicants entering today’s labor pool.

Ok, you have a great organization with competitive wages and benefits. What’s next? Are you tracking your recruiting efforts? Analytics is the big buzzword in staffing these days. Growing businesses are looking at BIG DATA and your recruiting function should be no different. What is your current turnover rate and where is it occurring? What was the rate last year and the year before? Is it trending up or down? This is only one of many recruiting functions that you should be following. It does not matter if you are using a fancy applicant tracking application or an Excel spread sheet. Collecting and analyzing the data is important.

I have only scratched the surface of how to recruit in this tight labor market but don’t be afraid to think outside the box and look for ways to make your recruiting efforts and your organization stand out.