The age-old question: how do you get highly qualified employees to come to you? By offering them what they can’t find anywhere else. If your small business is trying to build an extraordinary team, here are ten ways you can attract top talent.
All top workers deserve the right compensation. The easiest way to attract a skilled pool of applicants is by offering competitive pay. Do your research to see what each job role fetches locally and nationally. For instance, salaries rose 4.1% between 2015 and 2016. Then, decide whether you want to be in the middle or the top of that range. You don’t want to offer too-low compensation and scare off potential employees.
Embrace modern culture and attract a talented staff by offering a flexible work-life balance. How? Allow people to work remotely a certain number of days per month and don’t keep them past 40 hours a week very often. Doing so dampens morale and productivity. It’s also a big selling point to offer unlimited paid time off. But don’t freak out. Companies have found that employees who were offered unlimited paid time off took about the same as they would under a traditional vacation allotment. Giving employees this flexibility says a lot about your culture, and applicants will appreciate its value.
Don’t shoot yourself in the foot in your search for top talent by getting stuck in the mindset that employees need to be in your local community. Globalization has opened job searches to the entire planet—if an employee can do their job spectacularly from a different state or country, let them; it’s better than settling for someone local who has half the skills.
Acquiring great talent is no different than attracting customers: your small business needs to stand out from the rest of the pack. A great way to do this is by offering unique perks in addition to expected benefits, like a 401K. Not everything has to cost you money—consider offering half days on Fridays during the summer, quarterly social events, and other fun benefits.
What do you like to read in a résumé? Probably not something that drones on and sounds like the 100 other résumés in your pile. Prospective employees want the same from you. Your job description is the first impression you make, so incorporate your culture in the language—make applicants feel like they want to be part of your work environment! But also be as honest and complete as you can with required skills, tasks, and functions. Otherwise, you could attract the wrong candidate and waste time with employee turnover.
Peer reviews go a long way. Ask your employees to review your company on job sites like Glass Door so top talent can see how great it would be to work for you. Getting a look at what your existing team members have to say candidly about your small business will also help you make changes to improve overall employee satisfaction.
Being recognized for a job well done feels good. Add a page to your website where you recognize standout employees. If top talent sees that your small business appreciates the people who work for you, they may be more interested in applying for the position—especially since they likely offer capabilities that deserve praise.
Stand out as a company and in your industry by becoming one of the thought leaders. Spend time building out your company communications, like your blog and social media pages, and attend conferences where you can speak. That way, you’ll put your business on a pedestal that skilled professionals will see and want to be a part of.
Holding multiple interviews not only helps you whittle down your top hiring choices but it also weeds out people who aren’t serious about wanting to work for you. While you shouldn’t make the interview process painful, it’s essential to properly vet each applicant—sometimes more than once—and make your prospective talent feel like this is a highly competitive role.
Once you have your selected candidates, don’t blow it by putting them on a team with a bad manager. According to one survey, bad bosses are the main cause for a company losing great employees. Adapt your management style if necessary and implement training opportunities for leadership to enhance their skills so you can hold on to valuable teammates.
Attracting top talent for your small business is critical in building a cost-effective, efficient, and stellar team. Follow these ten tips to get a slew of extraordinary résumés you’ll love looking through.
