Top Ten Questions Small Business Owners Ask
#5. Where Can a Small Business Get Good People to Hire?
Let’s face it; good people are hard to find. Most of the people that are any good already have jobs. This is a huge problem because your company is only as good as the team they have to work with your customers.
In most small businesses, it’s all about execution (not the creativity of the idea) and people are the reason for its success. It is critical that you assemble a marketing strategy for finding the best people similar to when you do to find new customers. It’s an always on strategy where you are building “players for your bench” even if you don’t currently have openings.
One Vice President of Talent Acquisition always says “There is a war for talent” and this statement is so true.
As result, don’t be afraid to invest the time and money inside your company to get the top people. Think of it as marketing plan to find people instead of the most profitable customers. It takes time and business focus. If you are hiring enough people at one time, make it someone’s dedicated job similar to a sales person.
Here is where to start finding good people
Checkout the traditional job boards like Indeed or Linkedin Jobs. With some of these tools, the basic options are free; they even provide the ability to take the profile of the person you are looking for and proactively reach out to candidates who have their resumes posted on these tools.
Connect with people on Linkedin. Search for job titles of people you are trying to hire and reach out to them to see if they may be interested in switching jobs! Create a top prospect list of hires that you would like to steal from your competitors just like you have a list of top customer prospects.
Email signature. Think about how many emails are sent every day from your company. This can be a job magnet tool. In every signature in the company, add the line “We are expanding to add the best people. Referral bonus paid!”. Have it linked to your jobs’ page on your website to collect interested candidates.
Employee referral bonus. Great people know other good people and referred candidates have more of a chance of fitting into the company’s culture. If an employee refers a candidate you hire (and stays for 6 months) don’t be shy of paying them a bonus. It should be at least 3% of the position’s salary.
Network, Network, Network. Make everyone you meet aware that you are hiring for good people all the time.
Make sure you have a “bench” of great candidates that could be hired if someone leaves tomorrow. This way, you will never be taken by surprise.
Stop looking for the perfect candidate to fill the job. That person probably doesn’t exist. Be aware that you may have to train an inexperienced person or better yet, promote from within with an outstanding employee.
Remember, it is much better to hire people that fit the culture than the ones that only have the best skills.
Don’t forget that once you get them (like customers), you have to treat them well to keep them. Train new employees and give them frequent feedback on how they are doing. Remember, it costs about one third of a team member’s salary to replace them!
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