Modernizing Your Hourly-Worker Hiring Strategy for the TikTok Generation

Twenty-five-year-olds aren’t the only members of the TikTok generation, says Pete Sanidas, head of enterprise at JobGet. “We’re talking about the portion of the population that has become accustomed to and dependent on the algorithm on the ‘For You’ page. It’s the idea that my individual interests, experiences, behaviors, and intentions are delivering me the content that I want to consume.”Get into the groove of a good algorithm and boom, “all of a sudden you have a new hobby, you have a new interest, you made a new purchase that you weren’t planning to make. That’s the TikTok generation,” he said during a From Day One webinar about “Modernizing Your Hourly-Worker Hiring Strategy for the TikTok Generation.”Social media platforms have mastered the art of engaging users with content they never knew they wanted. Why can’t employers do the same thing? That’s what Sanidas is trying to do with JobGet, a job search app for hourly employees.For years, job boards have given job seekers the same starting point: two blank search bars for job title and location. But job seekers seldom fill out that second field, Sanidas says. Because they don’t want to be limited. They’d rather explore what’s available. He believes they’d rather find a good algorithm.If you know about their experience, their day-to-day life, their responsibilities, their compensation needs, and the locations where they want to work, “you can very much match the right kinds of jobs to the job seekers by pushing them to the ‘For You’ page, as opposed to having them come to a blank box and just say, ‘show me what you got.’”Everyone Recruiter’s Least Favorite Problem: Finding Quality Over Quantity Employers are prone to stigmatizing hourly workers, said Sanidas. He often hears companies complain about the old stereotype of quantity over quality. But once you start probing, you may find that a recruiter’s measure of “quality” is simply whether the candidate responds to the recruiter’s first outreach. He said that what those companies fail to consider is their part in the exchange.Pete Sanidas of JobGet led the webinar (company photo)“That becomes a mirror test,” he said. “Look in the mirror. What kind of experience have you provided for those candidates prior to you reaching out to them? Have you let days or weeks go by? Did you ask them to jump through a lot of redundant hoops?”Candidates are most likely to drop out between application and first outreach from the employer, “particularly in large-scale environments that are working with a large amount of technology and have some pretty cumbersome or mature processes.” It’s typically because that job seeker has found a company that was quicker to respond–and refused to subject them to unnecessary technological hurdles.“Outreach is something more than the automated acknowledgement of application received,” he said. It’s actually contact from a recruiter asking to schedule a phone screening or a call with the hiring manager. Fix that leaky pipe and get quality applicants in front of hiring managers as quickly as possible. Understanding the Hourly WorkforceSomething Sanidas has learned in 25 years of talent acquisition is that young young does not equal inexperienced. “The oldest Gen Zers are 27 years old. By definition, if they’re in the hourly or everyday worker category, they could have 10 plus years of work experience.” And when it comes to most hourly roles, like warehousing, retail, and hospitality, experience starts to compound at two to three years. An employee with a decade of experience is invaluable. Across jobs in the hourly work space, there are some specialized roles, but the overwhelming majority require the same core skills: communication, interpersonal skills, and the ability to use internal operating systems (like point-of-sale or inventory management software). Finding the right candidates isn’t so much about skills as it is about whether the opportunity fits the needs of the worker: Is it commutable? Does it pay enough? Does it fit with their schedule? Compensation and location are consistently the most important factors for everyday workers, he said. “Quality candidates appreciate being able to find those matches very quickly and easily,” yet employers don’t always make that information available or ensure it’s accurate.Some employers try to hide from the less-than-ideal parts of their open roles, but “we’re living in a world where it’s harder and harder to hide. So let’s just be real with ourselves.” If you’re not offering the best compensation in your area, don’t omit or inflate it in the job description. And put the actual location of the job, not a zip code or metro area. A five-mile commute in Richmond, Virginia, may be comfortable. A five-mile commute in Los Angeles may not.“Get your non-starters front and center,” he said. Those might be reliable transportation or two years of experience with a unique skill. “Get the big, hairy uglies that you know about your opportunity out there.” Put them in knockout questions so job seekers can move on, and so can you.Ask yourself, “Am I making this easy for qualified talent to easily get connected with my hiring managers and vice versa? Is it easy for my hiring managers to quickly get in front of the quality talent, because in the hourly space, that’s the evaluation you want taking place as quickly as possible.”Keep job descriptions brief and easy to read. Use bullet points and lists. Don’t clog it up with exhaustive boilerplate about the company. “It’s hard to tell the difference between one job description and the next, because really, what you’re looking at is that tiny little slice in the middle that differentiates.”And follow the right metrics. “Cost per click, cost per apply–those are vanity metrics. I can deliver you a really great cost per apply of unqualified candidates that never end up as hires, and that’s not doing your business any good.” Cost per hire is a better starting point, he said. “The most advanced organizations solving for this are going even further and creating their own equations around cost per candidate acquired that we retained over a period of time. If you continue to have really high turnover because of your talent attraction strategy, you’re just making more work for yourself tomorrow.”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, JobGet, for sponsoring this webinar. Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is an independent journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about business and the world of work. Her work has appeared in the Economist, the BBC, The Washington Post, Inc., and Business Insider, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism.(Photo by jakkapant turasen/iStock)