Need Talent? Then You Need to Get Creative

Thanks to a strong economy and a shortage of skilled workers, it’s an employee’s job market.  You can’t walk or drive 100 yards without seeing multiple ‘Help Wanted’ signs and employee retention has never been worse.  Many companies realize that in order to attract the best and brightest talent, they must be creative and pull out all the stops.

Taco Bell wants to create 100,000 new U.S. jobs by 2022, so it is hosting hundreds of ‘hiring parties’ with free food, swag, and social media-friendly photo props to increase  applicant traffic and lure new workers.  In addition to free food, Taco Bell is interviewing people for open positions on the spot, and offering free meals and tuition discounts for employees.

Taco Bell began testing parties in Indiana in 2018.  The results?  In two days at four different restaurants, the company got close to 75 in-person applications and received more than 300 online applications.

And Taco Bell is not alone.  McDonald’s is no longer lobbying against raising workers’ pay, Starbucks is considering letting some employees spend half of their workweek at a local nonprofit, and Papa John’s is paying all tuition costs for undergraduate and graduate online degrees from Purdue University for employees.

WHAT CAN I DO?  Share this blog with your recruitment team or the person in charge of attracting new employees.  If you want to attract the best and brightest talent, you have to get creative and pull out all the stops.  Needless to say, having a great workplace culture helps, but you have to be able to get people’s attention or they’ll never get the opportunity to hear about – let alone experience – your culture.  To your success.