Retailers in the U.S. experience some of the highest levels of attrition. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), in 2018 retail was the number one industry for turnover, at 60.5%.
Recruiters in all sectors must constantly navigate the ever-changing hiring needs of the company while also working to establish an effective employer brand to attract high-quality candidates. But recruiting in the retail industry where the attrition rate is so high requires recruiters to get a bit creative in attracting applicants.
Here are a few tips to help you build a winning retail recruitment strategy.
Try New Applicant Streams
High volume recruiters don’t have time to waste when sourcing candidates. They need to have full pipelines so they can do what they do best: evaluate.
It’s no longer about training recruiters to send the most emails or make the most calls. Slight changes in the way you interact with applicants—or rather, slight changes in the way you enable applicants to interact with you—can dramatically increase the number of candidates in your pipeline.
Regardless of which sites your ideal candidate is using to search for jobs, targeted job postings will help drive them to you. Modern technology has allowed recruiters to hone in on key applicants through targeting and retargeting, eliminating the need to manually post and target for certain positions.
Use SMS Messaging to Keep Applicants Engaged
In addition to emailing candidates with important information regarding their applications, consider complementing this communication with SMS/text messaging. SMS messages have a 98% open rate, compared with an 11% open rate for emails. With applicants applying to multiple jobs, typically on the go, reaching them directly on their mobile phones will likely engage them more than sending standard emails.
Whether you’re hiring retail associates or are a logistics and supply chain recruiter hiring warehouse workers, using SMS as part of your hiring process is a great strategy to keep candidates engaged at a higher rate.
Reinforce Workplace Safety
The way in which consumers interact with shops since the COVID-19 pandemic began has required shop owners to take the safety of both employees and consumers into consideration. Stores may need to hire more employees to assist with new duties such as:
- Curbside order pickup
- Mask disbursement and temperature checks
- Other sanitation practices
Be sure to convey to applicants that their safety and the safety of customers is of utmost importance by including information about safety and hygiene practices in your job description.
