Hiring & Recruiting for Small Businesses.

Every small or large business owner aims to grow. However, with growth come more responsibilities and more work. You may already juggle being the boss, accountant, office manager, maybe even janitor, but at some point, you realize you can’t do it all. Finding a new team member can be a daunting task, and 42% of small business owners say hiring new employees is their biggest challenge that they have faced this year.

Here are a few resources to make the employment process more manageable and effective for your small business:

Clarifying Need

Determine exactly what kind of help you need, instead of saying “I need help”. It is important to define the job duties and company’s needs. Writing a clear, detailed job description with tasks outlined and skills identified will help you find the ideal employee. Make sure you are aware of compliance under state and federal law such as the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Once you are satisfied with the job description, the next challenge is finding suitable applicants. Today, advertising in traditional media or online job boards may not be enough. Social media has become a boon in the recruitment stage. Your company’s website also plays an important role in finding the desired candidate. A person who reaches out to you through your website, looking for a job, is most likely to be someone who has already gone through the job description, the remuneration and profile of the company and is still interested in applying for the profile. This makes your job of shortlisting candidates much easier. I have illustrated the benefits of using social media for your business in my previous posts; advertising job openings through social media is one of them.

10% of the budget spent on advertising is better than remaining unknown to the world and not earning the extra 10%. Contact HyperEffects to chart out a tailor-made business marketing strategy for your company and see your business show up on television ads, press releases and on major channel partners. Highlight offers, features, promotions and news in your email footers, invoices and letter signatures. Start social accounts with Twitter.com, Facebook.com and LinkedIn.com and post articles. Go where your audience is on the web. If your potential audience hangs out on forums, then post to those forums. Become a trusted advisor. Get your supporters to refer you.

Did you know?

• Employers who used social media to hire found a 49% improvement in candidate quality over candidates sourced only through traditional recruiting channels.
• 94% of recruiters use or plan to use social media for recruiting.
• Check out the full infographic for all the statistics on how small businesses are facing challenges and achieving success as employers.
• 73% of millennials found their last job through social media.

Selecting the Best

At this stage of hiring, it’s important to be thorough; research suggests that bad hires and employee turnover can cost a company 30% of its yearly earnings. The next steps in the selection process are to learn more about fair practices requirements, such as avoiding discriminatory questions in the interview.

In a small business, each employee is important. You want everyone to be performing to the best of their ability. In order to achieve that, it is your responsibility to make sure everyone in the team knows what ‘great’ looks and feels like. Make your expectations clear to them, how important their actions are in terms of the overall success of the business, and how you will help and support them to get to where they need to be. Make them feel confident about your future goal for them. Employees want consistency, security, clarity and freedom. All of these translate into behaviours that you, as a business owner can put into action. But what works for one business doesn’t necessarily work for another.

Whittle your choices down to the top candidates, after perusing job applications and resumes. Reference checks can help determine someone’s personality and work ethic when the interviews lead to promising results. Finally pick the ideal person for the job and your company’s future, after examining all the factors. You make a job offer, and all parties are satisfied with the employment arrangements. Congratulations, you hired a new employee!