Regional employers are getting a hand from the Mid-Shore Regional Council and its partners with the debut of a new website titled MidShoreHires.com as workforce woes continue in many industry sectors.
The council teamed with the region’s economic and workforce development professionals to address the deep and ongoing challenges employers now face. As they have for many successful projects, the group again called on the data visualization specialists at Salisbury University’s Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative (ESRGC) to help develop the site.
“This website takes a practical view of hiring and focuses on finding, attracting, and retaining employees,” says Scott Warner, executive director of the Mid-Shore Regional Council. “This is not new information. Our team simply pulled it all together in one location. We focus on helping businesses develop an effective process for addressing their workforce issues.”
Funded in part by a grant from PNC Bank, the Mid-Shores Hires website sports a modern, readable design that is easy to use and comprehend. This tool will become part of the strategies employed by Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot counties as they work to address workforce issues.
“Today’s workforce is evolving, and it is critical that employers upgrade their hiring strategies to keep pace,” says ESRGC Project Manager Erin Silva. “A modern hiring strategy is more than simply posting open positions on job boards. Employers must develop a comprehensive approach to finding, attracting, and retaining top talent.”
The website is divided into three main sections. “Find Employees” provides ideas on how businesses can develop a steady stream of qualified candidates. In addition to listing traditional employee recruitment tools such as Indeed, Monster, and ZipRecruiter, the site links to nontraditional job boards including Goodwill, The Arc, and Easterseals.
Mid-Shore Hires also outlines strategies employers can use to enhance their attraction and retention efforts with advice on polishing their corporate image and how to develop incentives that work with today’s labor force. “Mid-Shore Hires reminds us that employees are an organization’s most valuable asset and opportunities for workforce development occur at every level,” Silva notes.
The Mid-Shore Regional Council is recognized by the U.S. Economic Development Administration as a certified Economic Development District that encompasses Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot counties. The economic development offices in Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot counties contributed to the development of the website, as did the Upper Shore Workforce Investment Board and the Lower Shore Workforce Alliance.
The organization’s partners often come together to work on projects and issues that benefit the region.
“The Mid-Shore Regional Council appreciates this partnership with the county economic development offices to create this resource designed to assist businesses, especially small businesses, to enhance their current employee recruitment and retention strategies,” Warner says.
For more information, visit hires.midshore.org.