Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley and the North Dakota Economic Development Foundation today announced a new workforce recruitment campaign aimed at attracting a permanent private-sector workforce to meet the growing needs of North Dakota’s robust economy. The “Find the Good Life in North Dakota” campaign will use targeted marketing and event strategies to attract potential new residents to North Dakota.
The campaign will emphasize the career opportunities available in North Dakota and promote the qualities that make North Dakota a great place to live, work and raise a family. It is being developed to target people in states with chronic unemployment, and people in industries that are high-demand in North Dakota, including: engineering, healthcare, energy, skilled trades, transportation and information technology.
“We have been working hard to grow our economy and create jobs, and those efforts have paid off in big ways as North Dakota leads the nation in economic and job growth,” said Wrigley. “To sustain that growth, we need to ensure that the jobs we are creating are filled with highly-skilled workers, and this campaign is a tremendous opportunity to expand our workforce and promote the quality of life that North Dakota has to offer.”
The campaign is also placing an emphasis on attracting veterans and active military transitioning to civilian life and employment.It is estimated that 250,000 service men and women will be exiting the armed forces in the coming years and the campaign will invite them to start their next career in North Dakota.
“Find the Good Life in North Dakota” is a public-private partnership led by the North Dakota Economic Development Foundation. The State of North Dakota has provided $400,000 in matching funds to launch the project. “Find the Good Life in North Dakota” is set to launch in May 2014.
Steve McNally, Hess Corporation’s general manager of the company’s North Dakota operations, presented the North Dakota Economic Development Foundation with a $400,000 check as an investment in the “Find the Good Life in North Dakota” campaign. “Like many businesses, Hess is faced with tremendous workforce needs,” said McNally. “We want to hire workers who, like us, believe in the exciting opportunities North Dakota has to offer.”
“We’re a state with great schools, friendly people, supportive and safe communities, arts and entertainment, tremendous outdoor recreation and, of course, great job opportunities,” said Wally Goulet, chair, North Dakota Economic Development Foundation. “In the end, our goal is to ensure our state has the workforce it needs to take full advantage of the opportunities we have all worked so hard to create and foster.”
The North Dakota Economic Development Foundation is charged with helping the governor and Department of Commerce develop and execute strategies that improve our state’s competitiveness and increase economic growth.
This news is courtesy of http://www.business.nd.gov/
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March 19th, 2014 at 5:10 pm
Although people want to make money, people tend to look at trends of area births and area deaths and they also look at the number of person moving from an area versus the number of people moving to the area.
The key to any successful business venture is to have a plan of attack. This strategy applies to recruitment activities within any company, no matter what its size. Whether your recruitment plan is meant to be distributed to the public or to act as a set of guidelines for your staff, the success of your recruiting venture lies in its construction.
North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, at less than 3 percent. It is leading the nation in population growth and the number of residents in the state is at an all-time high, at more than 725,000 people, according to the Census Bureau.
What does North Dakota have to offer in this process?
They have great schools, they are friendly people, there is lot of support and safe communities.
The weather is normal conditions they experience normal winter and summer.
Their population is a wide cross section of Native American Indians, there is potential growth for all cultures most of their culture represents, Norway, Iceland, Germans and Russian that includes religions also.
Entertainment includes Arts and Museum. Entertainment is widespread.
Transportation is normal.
Cuisine is major part of their culture.
And they are known for the 20th friendliest tax state for business in the nation.
They are the State that produces 87% of the Flaxseed in United States.
So with this info available what steps are taking to strategize a plan for the recruitment campaign?
Most commonly, recruiting strategies involve public visibility that hopefully attracts top potential candidates. However, to recruit top talent and get the best matches, you may need to be proactive and reach out to those candidates you’ve identified. Credit research, public records and the Internet can help you find candidates who fit a specific set of requirements. Professional association indexes that list qualified individuals and their credentials can serve as a potential gold mine of qualified candidates. Additionally, there are firms that do this type of research for you. Although this approach may be time consuming, it’s an effective recruiting strategy to make sure that you are selecting the best possible person for the job.
In a labor market where employees are hard to come by, recruiting becomes essential. It is no longer possible to just post a help wanted¨ sign and expect the unemployed or underemployed to line up at your door especially if your business is computer-related or service-related. Many service managers say that they are now in the position of constantly recruiting, even when they don’t have an immediate opening.
It is important at this point that you think beyond the traditional employee groups from which you have always hired. Yes, graduating students and workers with experience in your industry is one place to draw from. But with an ever-shrinking market and with an increasingly competitive economic environment, you need to draw people in from outside your traditional pools. Consider some of the following categories:
– Former employees- Volunteers – Homemakers – Students- Family members of present employees
– Legal immigrants – Military personnel and their dependents – Older workers- People with mental or physical disabilities – Ethnic minorities – People looking for a new career – People new to the community – People looking for part-time or telecommuting work- People currently on welfare or assistance
Now you have to determine how you will reach the people in these groups and let them know about opportunities at your business in this town. Don’t ignore traditional methods such as job postings or classified advertising, but be prepared to expand beyond this especially if you are trying to reach groups of people who have NOT been reached through your traditional recruiting techniques.
Here are some creative ways you could notify people about your employment opportunities:
– Sponsor work-study programs- Invite students at local high schools or colleges to spend a day at your business shadowing an employee. – Provide mentored internship opportunities.- Post notices at churches in your targeted communities.- Meet representatives from minority agencies within the community.- Post notices at youth centers.- Advertise on bulletin boards, at the supermarket, library, health club, Laundromat, child care center, family restaurants, etc.- Place fliers on car windshields in parking lots- Speak at English as a Second Language classes.- Distribute leaflets at immigrant settlement centers- Have an older worker whom you employ speak at a senior citizens center.- Distribute fliers at senior citizen housing complexes and meeting locations
– Publicize in your employee publications or on employee bulletin boards information encouraging present employees to recommend family members for employment.
– Offer a cash award for employees recommending a family member who is eventually hired and remains on the job for a specified time- Visit schools that train people with disabilities.- Become acquainted with directors of local agencies offering services to people with disabilities.- Speak at adult evening education classes.
– Go to businesses that are closing and tell employees there about your employment opportunities.
– Post on electronic bulletin boards where there seem to be a high concentration of employees with the skills you are seeking.
As the job market continues to shrink, you may find that you need to be creative to reach even your traditional pool of employees. Managers in the service industry have shared some of the following creative strategies:
1. Turn your best employees into headhunters for your business. When there is an opening, ask your high-quality performers to refer people they know who would make good job candidates.
2. Look for good service no matter where you are. If you receive good service from a grocery store clerk, bank teller, restaurant, dry cleaning attendant, write them a thank you note that concludes with a comment that you could use someone with the commitment to service that they demonstrated and to call you if they are interested in talking about job opportunities.
3. Look among your customers. If you have a satisfied customer, find a non-obtrusive way (such as a card or sign in your business) telling them that you¡¦d like to talk to them about job opportunities.
4. Set up an employee hotline and keep it updated. When prospective job seekers call the hotline, they get a recorded message giving them a list of job openings and a brief description of each.
5. Sponsor a recruitment day each year and advertise it on a local billboard several weeks ahead of time.
6. Hold career fairs not just at colleges but at high schools with career programs as well.
7. Partner with welfare-to-work programs who will train and mentor people whom you can employ.
A great way to increase current employee morale and draw bright talent to your company is to institute an employee recruiting incentive plan. This generally involves rewarding current employees for successful referrals for posted positions within your company. Such a plan may be structured in a number of different ways.
The campaign will emphasize the career opportunities available in North Dakota and promote the qualities that make North Dakota a great place to live, work and raise a family. It is being developed to target people in states with chronic unemployment, and people in industries that are high-demand in North Dakota, including: engineering, healthcare, energy, skilled trades, transportation and information technology.