As the New Year begins, hiring in the U.S. continues its upward trend and job openings are at a near-record high. In 2015, monthly job gains are forecast to reach 250,000 a month or approximately 3 million for the year.
California’s economy, like that of the nation, continues to improve. Unemployment is trending down and housing, construction and professional and business services are trending up. Non-farm payrolls surpassed the pre-recession, 2007 peak of 15.4 million jobs earlier this year. The gross state product is forecast to grow between 3.5 and 4 percent between 2015 and 2017.
Good news for everyone – including employers. It’s no wonder that one of the topics of most interest to HR pros in 2014 was the importance of hiring for the future. Another was how to help new employees to avoid failing during their first months on the job. Employers also kept a close eye on where the jobs were in Fresno – and among the city’s largest employers were its healthcare providers.
Hire for the Future Today
Loyal employees are at the heart of successful companies. How can you find long-serving talent that supports your ongoing mission and vision?
- Develop realistic job previews. These are the right combination of updated descriptions, testimonials, videos and tests that give prospective hires an accurate appraisal of your company culture and the job itself.
- Launch an employee referral program. One study showed a 46 percent retention rate after one year by individuals hired through employee referrals. This compared with rates of 33 percent for those recruited via career sites and 22 percent via job boards.
Why New Hires Fail – and How to Prevent It
Forty-six percent of employees fail within 18 months of starting a new job – and it’s not because they lack the necessary skills. During the hiring process, managers tend to focus too much on technical and educational requirements and not enough on finding the right cultural fit.
- Coachability, attitude and emotional intelligence are more predictive of a new hire’s success rate than any level of technical competence. To find out if a person is coachable, ask. Job seekers should be proud to describe successful coaching experiences as a sign of their willingness to continually develop and improve.
- Attitude correlates with culture. If you hire for attitude, you’ll build the passionate, engaged workforce you need to successfully compete. Start by surveying your employees. Ask them about high and low performance issues, situations and consequences. This will provide a foundation for developing an attitude-focused recruiting process.
Fresno’s Leading Employers
The largest inland city and fifth largest overall in California, Fresno is the financial, industrial, trade and commercial hub of the Central San Joaquin Valley. Healthcare providers are prominent among its major employers. They include:
- Community Medical Centers: The most comprehensive medical center in the San Joaquin Valley, Fresno’s regional hospital system employs 6,000.
- Saint Agnes Medical Center: this 436-bed medical center and medical school campus features state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. Saint Agnes employs 2,800.
- Kaiser Permanente: With 2,160 employees, Kaiser Permanent is an integrated managed care consortium based in Oakland and currently operating out of nine states. Kaiser has more than 167,000 employees in total.
The talent war will continue to heat up in 2015. The recruitment experts at PrideStaff Fresno will partner with you to identify and help meet your unique hiring needs, so you can emerge a winner. Contact us today to learn more.