Talent Acquisition Tips for Small Business

Hiring and recruiting is difficult for any company of any size. As a small business, you may not have all the resources a large company has access to – like a dedicated HR team – but that doesn’t mean you’re automatically out of the talent acquisition game. Just like your overall success relies on a great business strategy, so does your recruiting success. Consider adding some (or all) of these tips to your recruiting strategy to better ensure your ability to snag the talent you’re looking for:

Write better job descriptions.

With so many companies hiring for similar positions, your business needs to stand out to appeal to the candidates you need. A great way to do so is to have the best job description possible.

Job descriptions are critical to the recruiting process, so they must be specific, clear and realistic. Narrow down the true daily job duties and clearly outline the requirements of the position. Don’t ask for ten years of experience when you really only need two years. Likewise, don’t make an easily teachable skillset, such as running your specific POS system, a requirement. Consider having an expert review your current job descriptions, or assist in writing them if you don’t have any – a proper job description is one of the best recruiting tools you have.

Simplify your application and hiring process.

One of the easiest ways to lose a great candidate is by making them jump through hoops just to apply for the position. Your application process should be simple and efficient, regardless of the position you’re recruiting for.

Another place many companies lose top talent is by taking too long to make a decision regarding a job offer. Candidates are likely interviewing with multiple companies, so your interview and decision-making processes need to be streamlined to ensure you’re prepared to make an offer to your top choice quickly, before another company snags them away.

Highlight your employer brand regularly.
A highly underutilized recruiting tool is capitalizing on your employer brand and company culture. Regularly highlighting why your company is a great place to work will capture a potential candidate’s attention and make them want to work for you even before they read a job description.

Concentrate on employee referrals.
You already have a great workforce who knows exactly who and what they need in order to succeed. So, who better to ask about potential candidates than your current team?

Offering fantastic referral incentives is one of the best ways to find and gain access to the top talent you’re searching for. Even if your referral incentives hurt a little bit to think about, it’s nothing compared to the value of finding the right person to add to your team.

Target the right people, not the right title.
One of the biggest recruiting mistakes you can make is only targeting candidates with a certain job title or type of experience in their employment history. Unless you have a very specific position requiring a very specific skill set, you could be missing out on the right candidate by focusing on the wrong thing.

Instead, focus on finding the right person to add to your team. Many technical skills are easily taught and learned through experience, while the soft skills that make someone a great addition to your team are inherent.

Offer perks your team wants.
As a small business, you may not be able to offer the best-of-the-best health insurance… but many of today’s workers have other priorities. A great recruiting and retention tool is to offer the perks that align with your company culture that your team will find most valuable.

Some ideas may include: a casual dress code, flexible work schedules, the ability to bring your dog to work, gym membership discounts, in-house daycare services or additional paid-time-off offerings.

Hire on a trial basis.
Something to remember is the interview process goes both ways – you are trying to decide if a candidate will be good for your company, and the candidate is trying to decide if they want to work for your company. A good option to help you both determine if it will be a good fit is hiring on a trial basis, or employing a temp-to-hire solution.

Hiring on a trial basis entails hiring someone for a pre-determined amount of time to assist with a project or two to see how they fit in with your team. If they are a good fit, you can offer full employment; if they aren’t a good fit, you can easily move on to another candidate. This also serves as a great part of the onboarding process for someone you choose to offer full employment to – they will already be familiar with how your company operates and the day-to-day processes when they come on-board.

Running a small business has plenty of challenges to contend with, but finding the right talent doesn’t have to be one of them. Enhance and tailor your recruiting strategy to make the talent acquisition process as streamlined as possible so you can focus on your core business. Implementing a referral program will bring great candidates to you with little search involved; highlighting your company culture on a regular basis will attract candidates before they know you have a position available; hiring on a trial basis allows both you and the candidate to decide if it will be a good fit without having the strings of full employment immediately attached. Creating a great recruiting strategy that aligns with your company goals ensures your small business can compete for the best top talent in today’s tough employment market.