Employee Recruitment in the Crafts Sector

In this article, our two guest authors reveal how you can ensure that you are equipped with the right staff in the trades industry in the future.

GIF: Mitarbeitergewinnung im Handwerk
Table of contents
  1. Why is a recruitment strategy in crafts so important?
  2. Typical mistakes in employee recruitment in crafts:
  3. Tips for successful employee recruitment in crafts
  4. The right tool for employee recruitment in crafts
  5. Conclusion: This is what matters in employee recruitment in crafts

Employee recruitment in crafts has become a real challenge. Finding and keeping qualified workers is increasingly difficult. But we have good news: There are ways to tackle these challenges and become more successful.

We take a look at practical tips and new approaches that can help find the right employees and strengthen your teams.

Why is a recruitment strategy in crafts so important?

Competitiveness

A well thought out recruitment strategy is crucial to maintain and strengthen the competitiveness of a craft business. By ensuring a sufficient number of qualified employees, companies can consistently be successful and expand their business without being hindered by staff shortages. Currently, fewer and fewer school leavers are choosing a craft apprenticeship, which will further intensify the shortage of staff in the future. The trend is towards studying, so it is very important to continue making craft professions and the corresponding employers attractive.

Employer Branding

Establishing a positive image as an attractive employer is another important aspect of a successful recruitment strategy in crafts. A good reputation and an attractive working environment attract talented employees and bind them to the company in the long term. It's important that an Employer Brand not only works outwardly, it has to radiate just as well inwardly.

This means that companies need to present themselves authentically and not pretend to be something they're not. This becomes apparent at the latest during onboarding and often leaves a negative impression, which in the worst case is accompanied by a negative rating on an employer platform. Through a strong employer brand, employees should feel connected to the company, increasing loyalty to the employer.

Cost saving

A well-planned employee recruitment strategy can lead to cost savings in the long term by reducing the turnover rate and the need for costly recruitment processes. Unfilled positions are more expensive in the long run than successful employer branding campaigns. Ideally, a vacant position can be filled quickly by building talent pools, for example. However, a strategy is necessary to build a qualified pool of applicants.

Typical mistakes in employee recruitment in crafts:

  • No targeted communication: It is essential to understand your target audience and keep questioning how the target group works. Where and how can I best reach my target audience? What works particularly well, what less so? The questions can be a guide to understanding how my target group ticks. Many companies make the mistake of addressing all employee groups of their company in the same way. For example, blue and white collar professional groups often have completely different personas. Therefore, it is important to go into a good analysis to choose the appropriate employer branding instrument. Especially locally based craft businesses should take advantage of the chances of local connections, rather than pointing it out as a disadvantage. Once the target audience is understood and analyzed, this can be a great opportunity to become a local and attractive employer.
  • Lack of presence on relevant platforms: Many craft businesses do not effectively use the digital platforms where potential applicants search for jobs. A strong presence on job boards, social media, and industry-specific websites is crucial to maximize the reach of job postings. Today, there are more opportunities than just posting a classic job ad on a portal. It is especially helpful to via social media ads to address the right applicants. It is helpful to question at which online platforms my target group is mostly moving. Often a mix of online and offline presence is recommended. Sponsoring local clubs, for example, can increase the visibility of the company - following this, however, online findability must also be given. This creates a well-rounded and attractive image. Other exciting offline opportunities for craft businesses could be local job fairs, training fairs or offering school internships to get in direct contact with applicants and potential newcomers.
  • Neglect of the onboarding process: The neglect of the onboarding process is a common mistake in employee recruitment in crafts. Insufficient onboarding results in new employees not feeling included and having difficulty integrating into the team. Without clear expectations and adequate training they cannot effectively fulfill their tasks, leading to frustration and low employee retention. Therefore, craft businesses should implement a structured onboarding process that offers new employees a comprehensive introduction and helps them quickly and successfully get started. Onboarding often fails due to lack of capacity. This can be prevented by introducing a digital onboarding tool. This allows the first steps to be mapped digitally. Thus, for example, learning videos or instructions on work steps and systems are available at any time. It is advisable to use providers that are compatible on mobile devices in the form of an app. The target group in crafts in particular is less on the move on laptops and uses devices such as tablets or mobile phones more often. This saves time and frustration during the induction.

Tips for successful employee recruitment in crafts

  1. Use an employee referral program: An employee recruitment program in the form of a campaign can help with employee recruitment in crafts by encouraging existing employees to recommend potential candidates . This can find qualified applicants more quickly who already have a connection to the company and often fit better into the corporate culture. In addition, satisfied employees are the best advertisement for a business. Tools like d.vinci Bewerbermanagement help you keep an eye on the entire recruiting process and optimize it.
  2. Design a strong employer brand: A strong employer brand offers numerous advantages in employee recruitment. With an individual and concise appearance a craft business can stand out from the competition and appeal to potential applicants. Aspects such as further training opportunities, work-life balance, team culture and development prospects play a crucial role in being perceived as an attractive employer. A well-conceived Employer Value Proposition, which reflects the values and culture of the company, contributes to employees or future employees identifying with the company and feeling committed to it in the long term.
  3. Develop benefits continuously: A diverse selection of benefits plays an important role for companies in recruiting and retaining employees. It's crucial to continuously optimise and adapt these benefits to meet the needs of employees. This includes flexible working hours, company pension plans, health promotion, family-friendly measures and employee participation in company success. In addition, it can be helpful to be creative in designing the benefits. Special benefits such as tool leasing or free materials for home projects can be particularly attractive and stand out from the crowd.
  4. Use social media intensively: The integration of social media is of great importance in the search for employees in crafts. Simply placing job advertisements is often not enough. It is crucial to publish job advertisements in the form of social media ads on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook in order to reach potential candidates even in their leisure time. To further increase success and dive deeper into social media recruiting service providers such as HeyJobs should be considered.

The right tool for employee recruitment in crafts

The use of a job shop offers an effective way to further optimize the recruiting process. Its structured and user-friendly presentation quickly and purposefully leads applicants to the appropriate positions. For employee recruitment in crafts, the job shop offers further advantages.

  • The job shop guarantees a wider reach.
  • Connecting with other job portals increases the visibility of open positions, allowing your companies to potentially reach more qualified applicants.
  • A job shop is adaptable and can therefore easily be adapted to your employer brand. Especially when introducing a new employer brand is planned, it's a good time to supportively use the job shop and particularly strongly present the appearance of the employer brand.
  • For clear reporting, Jobshop offers a portal where the key figures can be tracked at any time. Recruiting measures can be analyzed and optimized.

Conclusion: This is what matters in employee recruitment in crafts

Overall, it is clear that employee recruitment in crafts is a challenge that can be successfully overcome with targeted measures. With a clear positioning as an attractive employer, the use of various recruitment channels, the introduction of an employee referral program and a appreciative corporate culture you can attract potential employees and bind them in the long term. It's crucial to respond to the individual needs of the target group and remain flexible in responding to changes in the job market.

Ultimately, investing in a strategic employee recruitment is an important step to stay successful in the market in the long term and to secure the future viability of crafts. Good luck with employee recruitment in crafts.

Bianca Janus
Author
Bianca Janus

Bianca Janus ist Senior Recruiterin bei der svt Unternehmensgruppe und bereits seit 5 Jahren im baulichen und handwerklichen Recruiting aktiv. Professionelles und effektives Recruiting im Handwerk mit einer erfolgreichen Employer Brand zu verknüpfen, ist Ihre Leidenschaft.

All Articles of Bianca Janus
Melina Worbs
Author
Melina Worbs

Melina Worbs ist bei der svt Unternehmensgruppe als Active Sourcerin eingestiegen und hat nun mit Freude die Verantwortung als Inhouse Recruiterin für Ihren eigenen Bereich übernommen. Sie ist besonders an innovativen Methoden interessiert, die dazu beitragen, das Recruiting effektiver zu gestalten.

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