North Bay HR leaders reveal solutions to hiring challenges

Tim Schulte: Side by Side faces challenges in filling open positions. These challenges mostly involve finding candidates whose knowledge and skills match the job requirements, who live in the approximate geographic area (as many candidates don’t want to commute), or whose salary expectations fall within our range.

Side by Side uses various recruitment strategies to target candidates. We actively search job boards, attend job fairs (both on-site and on Zoom), and establish ongoing relationships with local colleges and universities whose programs reflect our work. We review our benefits suite on an ongoing basis and welcome input from staff. We recently added several new benefits based on employee feedback, which reinforced the feeling among employees that we take their feedback seriously.

Kate Shilvock: Yes, we continue to struggle to fill our positions, especially if we are competing with private employers. We added a 5% bilingual difference for Spanish-speaking employees, as well as an addition of three additional paid holidays for all staff. However, we removed a day of working from home, which we assume led to more recruitment challenges.

Elise Spangenberg: At Treasury Wine Estates, we believe that using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategies and intentionally recruiting from diverse talent pools leads to stronger employees. We are always working to cast a wide net in recruitment so that all voices are heard and every candidate has a real opportunity to be the best version of themselves.

We also have relationships with local universities, including UC Davis, and sponsor Ph.D. and master’s students. We have established a funnel for attracting talent and innovation from one of the leading wine programs in the world.

Many people have refused to return to the office full time, are you seeing the same trend?

Briana Ekandem: In the hospital setting, most of our employees provide direct patient care, so hybrid or remote work is less of a concern for these roles. For other positions, we have a mix of hybrid arrangements and in-person work. The desire for face-to-face interaction is real, and I think we’ve found a good balance that meets the needs of our employees.

Brenda Gilchrist: For the most part, employers and employees have adjusted back to a normal work schedule. Most employers have determined which positions are viable as remote vs. in person. Over the past 4 years, employers have learned a lot about tasks that could be automated, eliminated and simplified. This has created opportunities for employers to realize efficiencies and ways to complete projects and meet goals without having to have everyone in the office. The reality is that some fasting needs to be in person to be effective.

Lynn Ichinaga: We are a retail operation and our mission is to “deliver the human side of home improvement”, which requires a strong in-person presence to serve customers effectively.

We are very proud to have been part of the essential businesses that have remained open to meet the needs of our community during the pandemic. We were only able to do this because our team members showed up in person, every day, during a really scary time.

We offer a structured hybrid working option for certain support roles, balancing flexibility with our business needs. This approach allows us to support our team members in roles where remote work can be effective, while ensuring that our team is present where it is needed most. Our team has embraced returning to the office with a hybrid schedule, and many come to the office beyond requirements.

Kashi Moore-Stallworth: When I first came back to the office, it was an adjustment for some members of the team. However, we have long been committed to providing an environment that makes coming to the office attractive by fostering a culture that encourages collaboration, creativity and connection among our teams. We continue to offer a generous hybrid work model that allows employees to balance their time between the office and remote work.

Dawn Moreci: Very few of our departments are set up as hybrids – mainly Marketing and Finance. Finance and marketing roles are suited to a hybrid work structure; the nature of their job requirements makes it unnecessary for these roles to be in the office five days a week. Our teams see the value of an office presence as it enhances camaraderie, continuity and collaboration. A hybrid approach provides the ideal balance, allowing flexibility and teams to stay connected by promoting a cohesive and productive work environment.