How To Beat The Talent Shortage With Great Managers

The old saying goes... "Employees don't leave companies, they leave managers".

I believe this very well could be your secret weapon to help you in the war for talent during this supposed talent shortage.

This concept came from a Gallup poll that found that 75% of people who voluntary left a job did so because of their bosses and not the position itself. So today I wanted to share what I think is a super powerful way to use this knowledge in your favor to help you attract applicants.

Most companies have bought into this concept that there is a talent shortage. Their proof of it is that they hear all about low unemployment in the news and how this is causing a talent shortage among employers.

They then get even more evidence when their HR team tells them that they can't seem to get enough qualified applicants.

The problem is... most of them really haven't aggressively tried to change anything about their approach to sourcing and its possible that the real problem has some easy solutions.

If unemployment is super low... that doesn't specifically mean that there isn't the available talent for your jobs... it might just mean that the talent that is available is currently not looking either because they already have a job, are full time in school, or have completely given up.

Today I want to focus on the people who currently have a job.

I personally believe that low unemployment actually gives more confidence to currently employed people to go looking for a "better job". A better job could mean an advancement, but it could also be just switching to a better employer who has a better culture or growth potential.

Or dare I say it... a better manager?

You see... if employees quit jobs because their manager is a jerk... then it stands to reason that they would be drawn to your job if your manager was awesome.

I believe that today's job seekers aren't just after money, but what they really want is the whole "experience" of a great place to work.

This includes benefits and perks, culture, growth potential, and even a manager who treats them fairly, cares about them as people, and mentors them to help them grow.

But how would they know that your managers are awesome... and more specifically, that the manager over the job they are reading about on indeed is awesome since almost no job ads talk about the manager at all?

So here is where we get to my new top-secret job ad tip...

If you want to write ads that attract awesome talent away from your competitors (or wherever else they are currently employed) just add a section to your job ad that talks about how awesome their manager will be.

Give them as much information about this person as you can. This includes their education and work history, their management style, what their direct reports say about them, heck even their personality and interests.

While this approach may be extremely uncomfortable for you and your managers at first, since none of your competitor's ads will look like yours, I guarantee that you will see a change in the quality and quantity of applicants that apply. This is what happens every time that I re-write a job ad for one of my clients!

Who knows... maybe having the guts to be different could be your new secret weapon!

Getting jobseekers excited about their potential managers is an awesome start, but if you're looking for additional tips on how to write a great ad, check out my How to Write a Killer Job Ad Workbook and amplify your results even more.