Everyone knows that employees can make or break a business and that getting the right people on board is essential. Without good staff across the board, your business will struggle to grow at all, no matter how innovative your product or service is.
On the flip side, having the best talent working for you can drive exponential growth. So, it really is essential that you get the hiring process right.
Unfortunately, hiring is one of the most difficult tasks for any business, particularly for start-ups and small companies. According to international headhunter agencies, this is mainly because these businesses can have seemingly little to offer in comparison to larger, more established firms. Yet, it is possible to recruit top talent, as you’ll see.
Hiring Top, Reliable Talent
Finding the most competent talent can feel like an overwhelming task; it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.
However, by reading on, you can make easy sense of the process. You’ll gain immediately actionable steps to put you on the right track straight away. This will help ensure you get the crème de la crème of employees next time you open up a position.
The process of recruiting the most competent and qualified candidates doesn’t begin with posting an available position on a jobs broad, though. There are things you need to perfect long before this.
1. Begin With a Powerful Mission Statement
One of the greatest ironies of business is that it can be hard to get the biggest talent when it’s needed most. This is because fledgling businesses rarely have large reserves of cash to flow into the super-size salaries that you might expect to need to pay the top flight talent.
So how do you attract these people without the money?
Thankfully, money is not the only motivation for a workforce. It’s just a piece of a more complex puzzle. As long as a fair salary is offered, it doesn’t necessarily need to be the highest available
You also need to remember that people love to feel like they are contributing something to their field — something game-changing.
Talent loves challenges. Employees love to feel that they are breaking new ground.
People also like to feel that they are part of a success story — they want to be able to say in five years’ time, “Hey, look what I helped to achieve! Look at this business now! Look how far we came!
There’s a well-known anecdote telling the story of how John Scully was poached from Pepsi to work for Apple, then in relative infancy. Steve Jobs asked him, “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?”
This is the way you need to approach finding talent. You need to share where your company is going and emphasize how exciting and rewarding it’s going to be getting there.
So, how do you share this?
- Develop a clear mission statement — your company needs it. This statement must be bold, fresh and exciting.
- Cultivate a mindset that favors ethical, sustainable approaches and thus appeals to the discerning millennial generation for whom this can be particularly important.
- Empower yourself with a mission. Toyota, for instance, has adopted a powerful mission statement: “Toyota will lead the way to the future of mobility, enriching lives around the world with the safest and most responsible ways of moving people.”
- Thrive on collaboration and connectivity: “Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.
In these companies, employees clearly know how they are contributing to the well-being of the world and how they are changing it for the better.
ACTION POINT: Your mission statement now needs to be at the core of your publicity, particularly any recruitment campaign.
It needs to be plain for the eye to see in any recruitment advertising. Ensure it is embodied in social media marketing, whether they are for recruitment purposes or not. Create a buzz of excitement around your company’s future
If you can do this, the cream of the crop will notice you and be excited to get on board.
2. Create an Unbeatable Workplace Environment
A positive vision creates energy, momentum and an exciting environment to work in.
However, there are other factors beyond your company’s vision for the future that will encourage potential employees to look twice at your company.
This means highlighting other benefits candidates can enjoy when they start working for you.
- Flexible working arrangements are increasingly popular. Is this something you can offer?
- Perhaps you can offer big opportunities to access great amenities or easy access to travel arrangements?
- Maybe you can offer great health insurance?
- Perhaps you can offer the chance to use innovative technology?
- Is your company a sociable place to work?
You may also establish your company culture. It is this culture that not only entices people in this first instance but encourages them to stay long-term.
ACTION POINT: Throw all you can into creating an incredible workplace culture where your employees feel energized, valued and rewarded. Ensure your current employees are also greatly satisfied with their job and are always motivated to work harder. You’ll also experience the amazing power of word-of-mouth.
This word-of-mouth buzz will spread far and wide, putting you on the radar of other potential candidates.
Don’t be afraid to help it on its way, too.
ACTION POINT: Social media can be a fantastic tool for spreading the word on company culture. You need to actively market the benefits of working in your company.
Ask current employees to help create social media posts detailing the company culture and actively market the perks of working for your organization.
3. Know Where the Right Talent Lurks
Before you start the ball rolling, it is essential to remember that the right people for your company may not actually be actively seeking a new position.
By all means, post on jobs boards. To attract high caliber applicants only, be highly specific about the needs of the position and the necessary skills and competencies. Otherwise, you may find yourself overwhelmed by unsuitable applications. This will make it harder for you to sift out the best talent.
However, to really open up a pool of talent you need, follow the tactics of headhunting agencies. You need to find those who are not actually seeking a change of position. Head where they are, as they may not come looking for you.
This is where social media is your best friend.
Sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter allow you to tap into networks of suitable professionals.
ACTION POINT: There are many ways you can boost your recruitment drive through social media.
- Participate in conversations and be active in LinkedIn groups to get your name in front of potential candidates
- Use hashtags such as #recruiting or #rtjobs
- Use industry-specific niche hubs such as GitHub for developers
- Use the available filters on LinkedIn, such as location and years of experience, to help you hone into a group of suitable professionals
- Encourage your existing employees to also get involved in sharing news of job openings
You can also use social media to your advantage when you want to know more about a particular candidate. Go over their profiles and pages to find out if they align with your company’s way of thinking.
4. Think Big and Widen Your Search
Gone are the days of limiting your search to the local geographical area. The right person may currently be hundreds of miles away, but with the right package, they may be willing to relocate.
The internet and social media have made it so much easier to reach these people.
Alternatively, consider the possibility of recruiting a permanently off-site employee. Over the last decade, there have been huge advancements in cloud computing, video-conferencing and online collaboration tools. All this means that it is perfectly possible to have staff all over the world working together on projects.
This would mean the world is literally your oyster when it comes to finding talent.
ACTION POINT: Think outside the box and get innovative. Where is the best person for your role likely to be? If it’s not within a 10-mile radius, how can you work the role get them onboard?
5. Streamline the Interview Process
It is unbelievable how often companies put lots of thought into creating a job description and marketing the role, and then fall at the final hurdle with a poor interview process.
This has a hugely detrimental effect and will undoubtedly put off the best candidates.
They need to see you operating an efficient interview process and then making confident, quick decisions. Anything less reflects very badly on your company as a sign of how you may actually run on a day-to-day basis.
ACTION POINTS:
- Survey current employees for feedback on the recruitment process. What do you need to do to improve?
- Move quickly. A labored, slow recruitment process will put off the best talent. Iron out unnecessary delays and pointless administration, and have everybody geared up to do the job quickly and efficiently.
- Put your best and most qualified staff on interview duty. Ensure they are well prepared and organized.
Nail these five points and you’ll be in the best position possible to attract the very best staff you can. Happy recruiting!
