If you are a Human Resources Manager, then you are well aware of the difficulty in finding quality employees in today’s tight labor market. You and everyone else in your local area are competing for an ever-shrinking pool of potential employees. You have a 12-hour schedule and, at first glance, this seems to be putting off new hires before they even start.
If this is true for you, then you may find yourself asking, “Maybe an 8-hour schedule would be better for attracting employees. Should I try that?”
The answer to this comes from recognizing your audience and the motives of those you are trying to recruit. You might be on a winning track if your offering, is based on the appreciation for your candidate’s goals and showcases the values and benefits of a 12-hour schedule in comparison to an alternative employer and schedule that your candidate may be considering. Often you will find that your 12-hour schedules are just not “packaged” right in order to make the point that you are the better offer.
Let’s take an example.
The facility across the street is offering an 8-hour day shift with every weekend off. They are also advertising “No overtime!” The final nail in the coffin is that they are offering 10% more per hour than you are.
How can you compete? You could point out:
- the great healthcare plan you have, but if your potential employees are young enough, they are on their parent’s plan.
- the great retirement benefits but again, younger employees will see retirement as a very distant issue. They want more immediate compensation.
This may feel hopeless but in reality, you may be holding the winning hand; that is if you can get the right message out. Try this instead:
- “Our schedule has the same annual pay as the company across the street.” You can say this because a 12-hour schedule averages 44 pay hours a week instead of 40 (like the schedule across the street). The extra pay hours make up for the lower rate of pay.
- “We don’t have mandatory overtime, but we do offer overtime to those that want it.” This will appeal to those that don’t want overtime as well as those that do. The ability to work a lot of overtime is a big attractor for at least 20% of your potential new employees. Point out how much more money this is. “This can add as much as $XXXXX on an annual basis.” Remember, they may have a 10% higher wage across the street but overtime pays 50% more!
- “Our schedule has 78 more days off than the schedule across the street.” This is a key benefit of 12-hour shifts. Yes, the days are longer but 78 more days off is very, very attractive.
- “We offer a 10% shift differential for those that work on the Night shift.” If your shift differential is not this high, then consider changing it. 10% is the minimum rate it takes to attract people to non-day shifts.
- “You can use 24 hours of vacation and get a week off.” This will depend on the schedule pattern, however, a better vacation using fewer hours is a lesser-known benefit of 12-hour shifts.
Depending on the specific 12-hour schedule that you are using, there can be several other benefits that might help you appeal to potential new employees.
Let us help you design a shift schedule that makes you the employer of choice. We can transform your work environment. Our employee engagement process ensures maximum support from your workforce.
Call or text us today at (415) 858-8585 to discuss your operations and how we can help you solve your shift work problems. You can also complete our contact form and we will call you.