As Canada continues to struggle with a nationwide labour shortage, some experts say that the hiring process in several organizations across varied sectors is “broken.” They say the issue has existed for a long time due to companies’ heavy reliance on referrals and was exacerbated by workplace changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more: Unemployment in Canada has dropped, yet some firms are struggling to hire.
Here’s why According to Nita Chhinzer, a professor of human resources and business consulting at the University of Guelph in Ontario, the problem with the current hiring processes in some organizations is that many small or medium-sized businesses don’t have a human resources department that’s up-to-date with current technology or knowledge of where to find labour. “Without having an HR expertise in-house, the businesses are relying on owners and managers who are assuming that they know employment laws, employment practices, (employee) selection and job description,” said Chhinzer.
She explains that in reality, these people are strong in sales and business development but rather than relying on an HR expert, they are banking on referrals and word of mouth, which according to her, is the most frequently used recruitment tool among small and medium Canadian enterprises. “When you rely on referrals you actually end up with a small candidate pool and often that candidate pool doesn’t have diversity because people do tend to network with people who are like-minded or from similar demographics,” said Chinzer. “They also might not have the required skills.” READ MORE: Canada’s job vacancies reach record high in Q1, health sector dominates demand Chhinzer added the reliance of some businesses on referrals or