Recruiting the brightest and best for your business
As vaccine roll outs continue and businesses come back to life, you might be looking to hire back the talent you had to lay-off over this past year. Or maybe your business went through a growth spurt during the pandemic, and you are looking for new additions to your team.
Whatever the case, hiring the right people for the job, and retaining them, is something every business owner grapples with daily. (If not hourly!)
Whether you are hiring an agency to do the search, or you’re on the talent look-out yourself, these simple steps can make your search a success.
1. Start with a thorough, well-written job description.
It goes without saying—we have all experienced big changes over the past year. Have your job descriptions changed? Are you hiring back for the same position, or have the duties of that position changed?
Consider including qualities/personality traits in the description, and making those a higher priority than skill sets or years of experience.
Writing a concise job description to land on the right recruit may not just be a single day’s work, but might take some time. Glassdoor for Employers suggests first doing a “job analysis”. “Talk to some of the people who will be working with the new hire: superiors, colleagues and direct reports,” they say.
And ask the following:
· “What internal/external pressure on the company or team has caused this job opening?”
· “How has the role of the job changed within the industry in the past five years?”
· “How will this job support other roles in the company?”
2. Post in all the right places.
Talent recruitment is all about presence.
There are many ways to find top talent through different job posting sites, such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter, but don’t shy away from social media, such as LinkedIn and other online forums in your industry—they can be powerful HR portals.
Follow online forums, or start a conversation of your own on a regional, national, or international discussion group. These moves can be fruitful in getting the word out to those experts and key skill sets you are seeking.
3. Market your business.
Same as marketing to attract customers, recruiting talent is no different.
In the same way that keywords keep your website ranking high on Google, “Posting on social media sites also allows you to use keywords to target qualified candidates,” says BDC .
Also, take note of your Google reviews. What do they say about your business? Will recruits read them and want to work with you and your team? What are previous employees saying about their work experience in your organization?
Your online presence is as attractive to recruits as it is to customers—if company culture is highlighted, if there is community to belong to, and external communications, messaging and blogging are well branded, these will boost your recruiting ability.
4. Take stock of what questions your interviewees ask.
This seems like age-old advice, however, the nature of questions posed by candidates has shifted. For example, an employer interviewing several people for his wealth management firm is asked by one candidate, “How do you check in on the mental well-being of your employees?”
Does this question align with your current values?
It may have been an unlikely question 20 years ago, but today is an indication of a desire to join and contribute to strong, compassionate company culture and social awareness.
Sometimes the right recruits are found based on their personal qualities or career goals rather than them meeting every skill set requirement on the list. More often than not, those missing skills can be taught on the job.
Sources:
https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/employees/recruit/top-talent-recruiting-secrets