Are you one of the countless companies sitting around hoping applicants will walk in the door? Employers in many industries are reporting difficulties in finding qualified candidates. The shrinking labor market will not be expanding anytime soon. So if you are sitting there hoping to wait this one out, you may very well wait until it’s too late.

Are you just a place to work or are you the place to work? It’s no accident that companies like Google and Microsoft have a pool of applicants that stretch the length of the United States and beyond. These organizations know that it’s not enough to offer candidates a place to work and a paycheck. Today’s workers, particularly those filling entry-level positions, are looking for the total package. They want to work at a “cool” place, where there are opportunities for growth and sushi in the company sponsored dining room.

Take a look at your work environment and look at ways to be creative. You may not be able to afford a sushi chef for your employee kitchen, but you can certainly find a Japanese restaurant that can deliver a few platters of sushi to your office every now and again.

Many job candidates and employees are no longer interested in paying their dues. Yet companies still have policies in place that requires employees to do so. An example of this is job postings. Often employees must be in their jobs for a minimum period of time before they can post for another position. This approach worked fine in the eighties where there were an abundance of candidates for every job, but it doesn’t work today. If you don’t allow your employees to move rapidly through the organization they will think nothing of moving out of the organization to advance their careers.

Consider eliminating the time employees must spend in their jobs before posting for a new position. Make it a point to hire smart people, train them well and applaud their advancement as they move up in your organization.

If you were to interview with your company today, would you accept a position based on your experience with the interviewing process? How long does it take for a candidate to move through the process? How many candidates have you lost due to your inability to make decisions? Are your hiring managers more focused on their Blackberries than the candidates they are interviewing?

Not sure? Ask candidates whom you might have lost in the recruitment process for feedback. Ask a friend to interview with your company and provide you with their honest opinion of their experience. Then make changes before you lose another candidate.

We hear today how candidates are less concerned about pay and more interested in factors like work/life balance and interesting work. Don’t be disillusioned. Pay still matters. If your compensation plan is focused on putting more pay at-risk, reducing benefits and offering minimal pay increases, potential employees are likely to take a better deal elsewhere.

Rather than focusing on cost cutting, find ways to enhance revenues so you can afford to offer potential employees and your workforce a competitive wage and a stellar benefits package.

Hope is not a bad thing but you’ll find that it’s simply not enough to hope for things to change. You have to make things happen.