Recruiting in a Tight Labor Market: 5 Strategies for Association Management Companies

Last modified on July 20th, 2022
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Are you feeling the pain of the labor shortage as you search for quality employees to help manage your associations? Many association management businesses are struggling to find and keep great talent. According to a report from the Foundation for Community Association Research, 97% of association management executives and hiring staff believe there is a shortage of community managers. Additionally, employee expectations have shifted throughout the industry — they want more flexibility and for work to be less manual and more meaningful.

To understand what businesses can do to rethink their recruiting efforts and build motivated teams, we hosted a webinar with Nicole Tacktikos, Recruiting Manager at KW Property Management & Consulting. Here’s a recap of some of the insights and strategies she shared:

1.) Utilize an applicant tracking system

It can be challenging to maintain oversight and respond to leads promptly during the recruiting process when you have multiple applicants reaching out to you from various channels. When your processes are disorganized and you take too long to respond to applicants, they can lose interest in your business. You can improve transparency, respond to leads faster, and save time and resources with an applicant tracking system. These systems usually house everything from applications and resumes to referrals and interview notes, so your team can be fully aligned with each candidate every step of the way.

2.) Embrace virtual interviews

How do you currently conduct interviews? If you’re only doing them in person, you might be missing out on some great candidates. In-person interviews require applicants to travel and take time off work, all of which costs time and money. You can increase your candidate pool and provide more flexibility by offering virtual interviews. The great thing about virtual interviews is that you can still ask all the necessary questions and get to know a candidate. Moving to virtual interviews also reduces your recruiting costs since you no longer have to pay for travel or other expenses. 

3.) Leverage social media 

The first place candidates look when searching for a new job is online. Increase the visibility of your open positions and brand engagement with a strong social media presence. Popular sites like LinkedIn are a good place to post your open positions, and other platforms like Instagram and Twitter can promote brand awareness and credibility, which allows for organic, passive recruiting over time. 

4.) Pay attention to company review sites

Social media channels aren’t the only places you should be focusing your efforts. Candidates also look at business review sites like Glassdoor and Indeed when they want to know what it’s like to work at your company and whether it would be a good fit for them. Current and past employee reviews are aggregated on these sites and can shed light on your work experience and culture. Review sites also hold companies accountable with honest feedback. You can differentiate your business by creating your own branded page that highlights your offerings. As always, don’t ignore negative reviews — be sure to respond to them if you can to show you are working to resolve the issue. 

5.) Move to online applications 

What does your application process look like? Are you spending hours sifting through paper applications or manually entering information into a computer? If the answer is yes, then consider automating and digitizing your application processes. Online applications free your team to focus on getting to know the most serious applicants and provide a convenient option for interested candidates to apply right from their phone or computer.

As Nicole shared, when you offer mobile self-service tools and have a strong online brand presence and a digital system in place, you’ll be able to stand out from the crowd and attract top talent. To learn more about how you can overcome staffing challenges, watch the full webinar on-demand here.

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