Yes, you own a small-sized business. That doesn’t mean you want to hire people with small-sized talent. How do you draw the right candidates into your small business? How do you compete with Fortune 100 or even Fortune 500 companies that have staff entirely devoted to recruiting and hiring?
You may be a small fish in a big pond, but here are some innovative hiring processes that will help you get a few sharks to work for you. Try one or all of these strategies, and your inbox will quickly fill with CVs of interested candidates as told by Susan Ranford in collaboration with ZipJob.
Create a memorable career page
One of the benefits of the modern age is that even a tiny, one to two-person company can build an excellent website. Since you know that your applicants will turn to your website as soon as they see a job posting, you better be ready for them with exciting, professional content. Oh yeah, and it better be mobile-friendly, too.
Your applicant will see that even though you are a small company, you are forward-minded enough to plan for increased staff in the future.
Spend the time to create an impressive website or hire someone to make one for you. Not only will it bring in a higher calibre candidate, but it will also bring in more clients and customers.
Tell your story well
People are drawn to good stories and strong personalities. Share both your personality and the background of your company on your website.
Tell why you got into your particular field. Share your struggles and your hopes for the future. You may even consider hiring someone to make an artsy video about your company’s story.
If your story is told well, your employees will see the passion you have for your business. Enthusiasm is contagious. Make them want to enter onto the ground floor of something big.
Create a professional-looking LinkedIn page for your company
Hire a professional to write your business profile. Produce original content specific to your industry and post it to your page. Having a professional-looking LinkedIn page will enable you to stand out in your industry.
Make sure everyone in your small company has a professional-looking LinkedIn profile that includes professional pics. These pages are just as relevant as your website, and they can go a long way in establishing your company’s reputation.
To keep from having difficult conversations about your current employees’ profile images, hire a professional photographer to take individual pics of the whole staff.
Share equity in the company
Large companies hire young people with the implied promise they will climb the corporate ladder. What often happens is those young people are worked to death, and the next step of the ladder is giant-sized.
Small companies can be more flexible than that. Consider offering equity or profit-sharing in your company. People are always happy to work harder if they know they will receive benefit from it. Your employee will be happier receiving equity than an empty promise of promotions ahead.
Sell the benefits of working for a small company
Whether you meet candidates at college career fairs or interview days, be ready with an elevator speech on why working for a small company is the best choice.
Tell your candidates that a small company will not overlook their talents. Large companies tend to underutilise employees because each roll has a strict job description. Sometimes those job descriptions don’t let new hires show their real capabilities.
Make sure the candidates know that you welcome innovation and new ideas. Large companies have layers of management that made it difficult to present new ideas.
Offer perks that large companies can’t
If you expect your employees to work more than the standard 40 hours per week, you better be scheduling periodic fun days or celebrations. Take everyone out golfing once a month. Offering these perks and benefits for your employees can increase employee satisfaction as well as attract new talent.
Pay for lunches once a week or give out gym memberships. Pass out staff shirts and mugs with the company logo. You may even consider rewarding your employees with a trip once a year.
Also, if you have younger employees, prepare them with a career path. You have the opportunity to enhance their resume by teaching them all the inner-workings of a small business. When they move on, they’ll need to update their resume for better chances of getting hired. Whether it be improving their skills at their current job or learning how to beat the ATS Checker, your time invested in them makes your company look even better as you build a repertoire.
Interview your current staff
Talk with your existing team to see what drew them into your business. Ask them for ideas on how to recruit employees.
Just because you are a small company doesn’t mean that you can’t bring in top recruits. Just as you sell your products or services to potential clients, market your company to future employees.
More on hiring employees for your small business and HR and Staff Management.
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