2018 is shaping up to be the year of the retail comeback. After never-ending gloomy news stories about the fate of brick and mortar stores, even internet giants are now opening physical stores. 42% of brands reported planning to open new stores, which in one study translated into an estimated 5,500 new stores in 2018.
Opening new stores present a challenge for enterprise retailers. When opening a new location, these companies need high volumes of candidates and a full team ready for launch. Repeating this process across multiple sites and on tight deadlines only increases the likelihood for pitfalls. Working with a project recruiting partner like Mindfield helps mitigate these risks. This partner can manage the end-to-end recruitment process and ensure new stores are fully staffed with best-fit hires by the time they open.
What is project recruiting?
Project recruiting is a high volume, one-off recruitment process, like staffing new retail locations or managing seasonal spikes. The demands of project recruiting are different from ongoing recruitment as it can be challenging to find large numbers of quality hires by an enterprise’s defined deadlines. This is why many work with a recruiting partner to make sure new stores are staffed for success.
How to get started with a project recruiting partner
It’s best to bring a recruitment partner on board as early as possible. At Mindfield, we work backwards from store opening dates to build a candidate delivery project plan to meet our clients’ needs. When considering timelines, key factors include:
- Total number of positions to be filled
- Number of hires per role
- Types of role to be filled (hourly vs. salary, or entry vs. management)
On average, it takes 24.6 days to hire for retail and wholesale. Even in this fast-moving industry, hiring takes time. That’s why it’s best to bring on a recruiting partner from the start. The team at Mindfield expects a minimum 30-day onboarding timeline once a Statement of Work (SOW) is signed. After onboarding, it can take up to 30 days to source, screen, and deliver top candidates.
It takes time to find great people, so with enough advance planning and project management, high volume recruiting projects are possible–and even enjoyable.
What project recruiting can do for your enterprise
Every company deserves the experience and resources to make a recruitment project a success. We’ve helped with over 200 new store openings, and we know what it takes to get a team in place. With over two million hourly job seekers in our database, we can work in tandem with our clients’ in-house talent acquisition specialist to manage candidate flow and present two qualified individuals for each role.
We’re capable of staffing multiple locations simultaneously—which lets our clients focus on their business and avoid losing valuable time when preparing for new store openings.
These are exciting—and challenging—times for retailers. Working with a recruiting partner can help enterprises set up new locations for success, right from the get-go. Learn more about our solutions and how we can help your retail business as you scale.
About Mindfield
Mindfield is a Recruitment Outsourcing solutions provider that partners with companies to create powerful hourly workforces. Our solutions combine a recruitment team, simple to use technology and a data-driven hiring strategy that promises to improve the quality of your hourly workforce. This approach focuses on tying business outcomes such as sales performance, tenure, and engagement to the selection, hiring and measurement of quality candidates.