Recruiting in an Age of Crisis for Property Management Companies

Before COVID-19, property management companies had a difficult job; recruiting, training, meeting release dates, and managing employees to rally around the project goals that can seem to change quite quickly. It was no easy feat. After COVID-19 it’s a whole different story.

Property management companies have always been tasked with a lot of activities to get done in a short amount of time. With COVID-19 there is a whole new slew of activities; a renewed focus on retention, shifting to remote work, and focusing on the well-being & safety of employees during COVID-19, not to mention the new policies around diversity and inclusion, as well as regular hiring for the company!

We all know these are lean times, but many industries are facing an overwhelming lack of employees. How, then, do you adapt to the new landscape of virtual processes? What is getting in the way of creating a smooth transition?

A few points come to mind when looking at the current job market as it pertains to the hiring candidates:

1. Technological Gap

Some studios are unwilling or have been unable to transition many of their hiring processes to digital platforms. Our current reality requires a herculean effort in this space. If you want to be able to continue recruiting top-quality candidates, you need to get your technology up-to-speed.

In terms of easing into a more digital hiring process, virtual interviews are the obvious place to start. But virtual recruiting events could be a more competitive angle to take – there are plenty of platforms popping up that allow for enhanced tracking capabilities during and after the event.

Another solution here is to take advantage of outside recruiters who are already familiar with the technology and how to utilize it effectively. The recruiter should already have the technologies in place to attract, organize, and qualify the most qualified candidates.

2. Lack of Communication

If you’ve read any of my articles, you know it always comes down to communication. It’s truly the key – especially in our current climate.

With the entire process taking place virtually, it’s easy for things to get lost in the shuffle between candidates, companies, and hiring managers. It does take additional effort on everyone’s part to communicate clearly over the barriers we have right now.

Where companies can find an edge is through a recruiter, especially one who has a close relationship with both the hiring manager and the candidate. In these cases, the recruiter, having inside knowledge from both sides of the equation, can help facilitate the communication needed for a smooth hiring process.

3. Generational Gap

It seems like Millennials are the scapegoat for everything! When it comes to recruitment, the generational gap has far-reaching consequences. Millennials just don’t have the same outlook on their careers that previous generations had. Understanding the differences between Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers is essential.

Millennials are more tech-savvy, open to communication, and prioritize their own needs. The first two items are almost the perfect solution for the first two pain points we listed – this is important! Millennials could be the key to bridging the COVID-19 gap.

That last point, though? Communicate your company’s message clearly – the values, mission, and vision – and articulate why you care about them as an individual. Show the Millennial candidates that you both care about the same things, and you’ll be on the way to a symbiotic relationship.

Partnering with a recruiter helps resolve this pain point, as well. Again, that close relationship between a recruiter, candidate, and hiring manager can effectively close the generational gap through clear communication.

4. Supply and Demand Mismatches

Let’s face it – quite a few industries are firing. That means a lot of unemployed individuals looking for new work. On the other hand, a select few are hiring. According to MeetFrank, job applications have sharply increased in the last month, but job offers have declined.

Even more interesting – but no less expected – than the sharp increase in demand for remote work is the 135% rise in applications for those same offers.

Video Game Studios in these high-demand industries are going to have their hands full sorting through the stacks and stacks of job applications pouring in for every opening, especially the remote positions. How do you find the most qualified candidate quickly?

The Answer to this Question: Outsource it.

Having a recruiter in your arsenal means that they only bring the most qualified candidates to your attention. That’s one more thing off your Studio’s plate at a time when your attention needs to be on more vital matters.

The high cost of loss of productivity means loss of time and money

Everyone is cutting costs right now to cope with the changing economic landscape. Some are closing their commercial locations to use WeWork’s, you might be doing cutting staff or doing something different. This is the point that really ties the others together – they all combine to create conditions that increase the cost of hiring or the cost of a vacant position.

What goes into the cost of a vacant position? Advertising costs, salaries for HR employees (and over-time when there are too many applications to sort through), loss of productivity, (who’s taking on the roles and responsibilities of those no longer employed by you) and the sunk cost when a new hire isn’t retained.

With an efficient and effective talent acquisition strategy you can cut costs and find ways to shorten the time-to-hire and lessen the cost-to-hire ratio. Developing a scalable, versatile talent acquisition strategy is essential to the overall growth of your video game studio and the associated projects.

So, How Can You Create Such a Strategy?

Finding a tech-savvy, human-centered recruiter could be the key to a lot of these points for video game studios. If you can go a step further, finding a staffing consultant who spends time coaching and mentoring their candidates with a systematic process, that would be the best. This way they know the candidates inside and out before submitting them to you.

The right recruiter will address each of these pain points in a holistic way: They will have access and familiarity with technology that leads to finding candidates quickly, while the human-centered approach ensures the highest quality candidates will be identified and match as closely as possible your video game studios job requirements.

It is the speed and quality of the recruiter’s candidates that will give you the best results. Shorter time-to-hire, reduced cost-to-hire, and a higher quality candidate mean more bang for your buck. Utilize a staffing consultant and see the difference for yourself.