UMBC’s journey to better staff recruitment
August 10, 2023
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The solution
The recruitment team put together an updated process and training. We compared the candidate market to the enrollment cliff because the lack of births in the 2008 timeframe will cause a change in both. To better align with the market we started posting salaries on the job ads, we no longer had a hard “close” date (instead many positions were “open until filled”), we explained that there are mixed reviews on cover letters and not to discount candidates who do not submit one, and we encouraged the campus to source for candidates.
This is a journey of information sharing and tweaking our process using feedback from hiring managers, candidates, as well as market data. We are not done and never will be as the market is always changing and we move to a continuous improvement mindset.
The fellowship
One key thing I brought back to UMBC from the EAB fellowship is an understanding that we are not unique in our challenges. Whether it is budgets, space planning, admissions, retention, etc. many institutions are experiencing the same thing, and there are EAB resources to help us solve them!
Resources
- https://eab.com/research/business-affairs/whitepaper/maximize-pipeline-new-talent-higher-ed/
- https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/the-biggest-future-employment-crisis-a-lack-of-workers.aspx#:~:text=The%20labor%20force%20participation%20rate,of%20Labor%20Statistics%20(BLS)
- https://www.cupahr.org/issue/feature/higher-ed-enrollment-cliff/
- https://www.businessinsider.com/quit-job-great-resignation-big-stay-changing-jobs-market-2023-5
- https://www.hrdive.com/news/workers-demand-salary-transparency/641305/