Birmingham area companies now have a one-stop online tool to recruit and retain talent in Birmingham. The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) has developed OnBoard Birmingham, a dedicated hub for talent attraction, retention and growth that promotes Birmingham as a great place to live and grow a career.
OnBoard Birmingham is geared toward out-of-market talent, talent managers, recruiters, human resources leaders, and colleges and universities across the state. It exists to help local stakeholders attract and retain talent and shift perceptions of local and out-of-market talent to better understand the positive benefits of living and working in Birmingham.
“In working with human resources executives and recruiters across the region, we hear all the time that companies need a tool to sell the benefits of living in Birmingham,” said Karla Khodanian, Manager of Talent and Higher Education Partnerships at the BBA. “OnBoard Birmingham is that tool. This will provide a consistent message about Birmingham and the opportunities here, while highlighting our greatest asset – our people.”
OnBoard Birmingham features a job board with keyword search capabilities that is sorted by our region’s strongest industries (browse more than 28,000 jobs); a Cost of Living Calculator that allows users to compare Birmingham to other cities (your $75,000 salary in New York will go 63 percent further in Birmingham); and a deep dive into Birmingham’s rich culture, amenities and opportunities (browse information on Birmingham neighborhoods).
As the site evolves, OnBoard Birmingham will soon feature a dynamic recruiting toolkit for talent leaders across the region and profiles of local ambassadors who have built a career here.
The BBA will use OnBoard Birmingham as its main workforce development platform to partner with colleges and universities across the state to host virtual events showcasing quality of life in Birmingham and employment opportunities for entry-level graduates, which are two key components of the site.
Birmingham’s Shipt and Regions Bank are key supporters of OnBoard Birmingham and will be its first Featured Employers with company profiles and an opportunity for enhanced job listings. That feature is also open to other companies interested in getting in front of talent that has their eye on Birmingham.
OnBoard Birmingham is a direct call to action from Building (it) Together, which lists talent attraction and retention as one of its main goals to align education with jobs in Birmingham.
To develop OnBoard Birmingham, the BBA utilized feedback from local HR executives and recruiters, as well as results from an external perception survey that showed roughly half the respondents knew nothing or very little about Birmingham and the opportunities here. A survey of HR leaders indicated that 60 percent said their biggest concern was attracting and retaining talent in Birmingham.
“It became clear that human resources professionals in Birmingham needed help meeting their hiring goals, and the BBA knew it could help in that effort,” said Kenny Coleman, President and CEO of the BBA. “Also, we found that many perceptions of Birmingham appear to be driven by a general lack of knowledge. Through OnBoard Birmingham, we hope to show those who don’t live here why it is a great place to live, and those who do live here why it is a great place to stay.”
Any companies interested in being featured on the OnBoard Birmingham website, being involved with other workforce initiatives or that would like a group virtual tour of the site can reach out to Karla Khodanian here.
The Birmingham Business Alliance is the lead economic development organization for the Birmingham region. For more information about the BBA visit its website at www.birminghambusinessalliance.com.