Benchmarking Hiring Strategies: Insights for the Postal Service’s Pre-Career Hiring Practices 

• The Postal Service is working to enhance its recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes to ensure it has the workforce it needs. The agency has already adopted some best practices used by other organizations, but monitoring other organizations can help it further optimize talent acquisition. 
• To attract talent, some organizations develop a compelling brand and proactively pursue job candidates. They form partnerships with local organizations, use rank-and-file employees to help recruit, post authentic social media content, offer website videos highlighting their work and employees, and tout their “total rewards package.” 
• After recruiting applicants, organizations must select the best candidates and bring them onboard quickly and efficiently. Some host one-stop-shop hiring events to hire quickly and at scale. Others use data and AI to improve efficiency and boost the hiring experience.
• To optimize onboarding, some organizations standardize their processes so everyone has the same experience. Others emphasize a personal touch, including “buddy” programs, regular touchpoints between employees and managers, “welcome kits” to new hires, and an engaging orientation session. 

The U.S. Postal Service plays a vital role in the life of this nation, serving nearly 169 million addresses nationwide. To deliver on its mission today and in the future, the agency needs to recruit and hire employees in every part of the country. However, the Postal Service currently faces several workforce-related challenges.

To inform USPS’s recruiting, hiring, and onboarding strategies for its pre-career workforce, this paper reviews a sample of organizations in the public and private sectors to identify their best practices. Pre-career employees are temporary workers who do not receive the same benefits as career employees and are not always guaranteed a regular schedule, providing USPS with cost and operational flexibility.

These practices include:

• Establishing a Strong Employer Brand: Position the organization as an employer of choice by creatively sharing its values and opportunities, highlighting how employees can contribute to the mission and public good, and promoting a comprehensive total rewards package.
• Adopting a Multi-channel Recruitment Strategy: Proactively engage potential candidates through strategic partnerships (academia, downsizing businesses, or the military community), targeted recruiting events, effective use of social media, and leveraging current employees to support HR efforts.
• Accelerating and Improving Selection: Improve hiring by hosting one-stop-shop hiring events, using engaging multimedia and digital tools to inform candidates about the role, and employing data and AI to improve efficiency and evaluate success.
• Enhancing the Candidate Experience: Simplify the application process with an easy-to-use platform and maintain consistent, transparent communication throughout the hiring journey.
• Boosting Retention with Effective Onboarding: Standardize onboarding processes when appropriate, while incorporating personal touches to help new hires understand expectations and adjust successfully.
• Leveraging Technology for Talent Acquisition: Utilize advanced tools like applicant tracking systems, data analytics, and AI to identify, target, and engage candidates efficiently and effectively.

The Postal Service has already adopted several talent acquisition best practices that align with those used by other organizations. However, some organizations are more advanced in some new areas, such as using AI to support hiring practices and communicating job expectations realistically to applicants. Their experiences offer valuable insights. Actively monitoring market trends — particularly in relation to incorporating technology into its processes — could help further optimize USPS’s talent acquisition efforts.