It appears that a majority of small business owners are having the very same issues with their employees - finding the right people to work for their companies. A recent survey showed that a whopping 60 percent of small business owners state that they have a hard time finding the right skilled workers to fill their open positions.
Large corporations often have an entire department dedicated to the task of recruiting talent. So what can you, the small business owner, do?
1. Show Them Why They Should Work for You
The first thing that you want to do is show candidates why they should want to work for you.
Chances are, hiring a quality candidate is going to require more monetary investment than you can afford. Give them non-monetary reasons why working with you is probably the best decision they can make.
You have to emphasize things such as the ability to advance without having to deal with large corporate red tape and office politics. If your company has a rich social environment that is a breeding place for lots of fun, sell it. If working with your company will give candidates more exposure to their professional development, then focus your pitch on it.
The bottom line: You need to be attractive to the prospects. If you’re a bootstrapper, you need to be sure that you attract them for reasons other than money.
2. Recruit the Best of the Best of the Best
Yes, you read that right - you need to recruit the best of the best of the best. Hiring the wrong person can drain your resources fast.
What’s the worst activity small business owners after a bad hire? Firing the employee.
If you make a bad hire, chances are that you will eventually need to fire this individual. Firing an employee is emotionally draining, especially when they refuse to acknowledge that they deserve to be fired.
When you recruit someone, be very, very picky. Remember, you are in a relationship with your employees for quite a long time and you can’t afford a bad hire.
3. Use the Right Hiring Methods
Placing your ad on Craigslist or Monster is going to bring a surge of applications. Receiving hundreds or thousands of applications can be overwhelming and the selection process can become even more daunting and you don’t want that.
The best way for you is to recruit candidates using more targeted methods. Try using social media to get the attention of local job seekers. The go-to social media site for recruiting employees is LinkedIn. You can advertise on LinkedIn and laser-target candidates with certain skill sets or you can hand-pick candidates yourself.
Another great option for recruiting a talented worker for key positions in your company is with a staffing agency.
The great thing about using a staffing agency is that you can “try before you buy.†The agency does the recruiting. They test the candidates that sign up for their services and they do thorough background checks. Once the candidate is thoroughly vetted, the testing then verifies what area of work they will excel in. What this means for you is that you are not stuck with an employee that you are not satisfied with.
Takeaway
The best hires generally use a very simple yet obvious method: Testing them with the actual work.
Experience and educational background matter, but honestly they mean nothing if your prospects can’t get things done your way. Be absolutely sure before you say, “You are hired.†And to be absolutely sure, you need to observe how they do their work first.
One last bit of advice: Trust your hunches.
“Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.†~ Joyce Brothers
Businessman Seeking Photo via Shutterstock
