When you are just starting as an employer, many things will be on your mind. Things like: how will I make a sustainable income from my business, what do I need to launch forth, and how do I hire the right people to join my business?
Small business owners usually feel they cannot afford the time and resources needed to attract and hire the right talents. Hiring the right talent to join your business must not cost you a fortune.
You can hire the right talent just with the resources that you have. How do you do that?
We have listed the top 10 tips that will ensure you hire the right candidate without spending time and money.
Regardless of how good it feels to hire for a particular role because it sounds like the standard, you should consider your business needs. If your business doesn’t need the position immediately, then you can overlook the need to hire. One mistake you should not make is not understanding what your business needs.
If you go on to hire without understanding your organizational needs, you may hire a skilled person but the person may also not be able to contribute to the organization positively. This is because the person’s role does not contribute to the general success of the business.
For example: “If you are just starting your business, you may not need to hire a customer service personnel since you do not yet have a large client coming in or requesting help that you can’t respond to at the moment. You may consider hiring a salesperson instead to help grow the business.”
One of the mistakes that many first-time employers make is not defining the position they will like to fill. It is one thing to discover the need for a position, but it is another thing to define your expectation for that position.
Why do you need to define your expectation for the position before advertising the job vacancy?
Having a clear understanding of the position allows you to define what success is for that position. Understanding what success is for a particular position will also help you identify the right talent for that position. as soon as you engage them during the interview.
Hiring the right candidates start with analyzing the job to get information about the duties, responsibilities, skills, and even the right environment for that position.
Analyzing a job may not be an easy thing to do for a first-time employer. You do not have to spend time with all the recruitment details involved in analyzing the position. You can use the service of a top-notch recruitment agency to take care of these details while you concentrate on other aspects of your business.
Hiring a candidate can be challenging right? Now, imagine if you have to go through loads of applications without finding a good fit.
Attracting the right talent starts with crafting a job description that gives a candidate all the information they need to know. From the job description, a candidate should be able to tell if he/she fits the position.
If your job description is informative enough, you are sure to attract job candidates that fit the position instead of random candidates. Your job description should give information about the role and the company, such that a candidate can have a feel of your company’s culture.
Ensure you include the following when writing your job description:
Job title: Most people search for roles that match their skills and experience. You should also consider integrating industry-standard language into your titles so that you can reach more audience.
Start with an engaging overview of your company: You can include a 3 to 4 sentences overview of your organization. The overview should include; the jobs major functions, how it contributes to the general objective of the company, etc.
You can include information about benefits/perks like; onsite gym, remote work opportunities, thank God is Friday celebration etc.
The role: You should explain how the role contributes to the general scope of the business. A prospective employee should know if they will be a part of a team or if they are going to work under a senior colleague.
Remuneration: Some employees will be more money motivated than others depending on the role. Being money motivated is not always a bad thing, it can be a positive thing for employees in roles like sales/marketing.
Employees should know how they will be rewarded. Asides from stating the basic salary, you should also state the details of the bonuses and benefits you offer.
A job candidate's experience is a key factor to consider before making a hiring decision. As a small business that is hiring for the first time, you should also be on the lookout for job candidates that have some form of experience in the role(s) that you want to fill.
If a candidate has shown success in a similar job, it shows that the candidate will be able to replicate the success at your company since they have a proven record of accomplishment.
If you have to choose between a candidate with experience and one without, it often makes sense to choose the one with experience. This should be the case since you may not have the budget or time to train new employees.
It is good you hire someone that will come in and start getting things moving immediately as a first-time employer.
Every company has its culture. Company culture refers to the way of life of that company (it is simply how the company operates). Different companies have different cultures.
Some companies have made it a duty for them to close later than usual when they have a task to complete, while some others stick with the closing hours say 5.00 pm on the dot no matter the tasks they have at hand.
Some companies prioritize teamwork and socializing with team members, while in some other companies’ employees work individually most of the times. No matter what your culture is, you have to think about how a job candidate can fit in before you hire them.
When a candidates’ personality fits into your company’s culture, then you can be sure that the candidate will feel happy and more comfortable working in that environment. Be sure to ask questions that will reveal if the candidate will be a cultural fit.
Just as job candidates’ prepare for the interview by studying common job interview questions and answers, you also have to prepare for the interview as an employer. The job interview is an opportunity for you as an employer to know if a candidate is a right person.
Asking job candidates the right questions during the interview will help you find out the information you need to know to make a decision. The questions you ask job candidates will ultimately help you separate top-notch candidates from the not-so-good candidates.
Job candidates often practice the questions they want to ask the employer. It is also good you know the questions that job candidates ask to prepare yourself to give the right response.
One important thing you should always do before making a hiring decision is to do a background check. Always do a background check on the job candidates to find out information like:
Doing a background check on the job candidates will also allow you to find out the candidates criminal history amongst other things. Before you do a background check on a job candidate, be sure to do the following:
We know that a candidate’s job experience is one of the key factors you consider when making a hiring decision. As much as it is important, you should also consider hiring job candidates with great potentials. Some job candidates may not have a long time of on-the-job experience but can grow into a great asset if given the opportunity.
When you are interviewing job candidates, you may encounter some candidates who seem promising but don’t quite have the needed experience. They may be fresh graduates with little or no work experience.
For example; you are looking to hire a sales/marketing executive. You may consider giving someone that just graduated with a good degree from a well-known/accredited university a chance. This candidate may not have the experience needed but will be able to learn fast and bring about innovative ideas.
It could be tempting for you to use a template to write your job description when there is a need for you to hire. Digging out a job description template when you need to hire may not capture what you need from the employee.
You can consider removing any criteria that may not be necessary for the role and highlight criteria that could be learned on the job. It is important you involve current team members that can help you fine-tune the job description and determine the skills required to do well in the role.
Understanding what your team needs will eventually help you in choosing the right candidate that will be a cultural fit.
Involving your employees when writing a job description can help you see angles that you may not have seen writing the job description alone. You can also consider involving your current employees in the interview process too.
While candidate's skills, experience, and educational qualifications are very important, the candidate's attitude is also very crucial. You would not want to hire people that don’t have the right attitude to work. Hiring a skilled candidate that does not have the right attitude may even cost you more than what you may stand to gain from the candidate’s skills.
Since you are just starting with your organization, you would want to hire people that are excited about the opportunity to work with you and people that believe in the vision of your organization
For example, an employee that is just working for the salary is generally not going to do better than someone that just wants to be a part of your organization. If a job candidate is eager to know the stage of the interview, and asking questions about the company. Then you can tell that the job candidate has a positive attitude.
Hiring the right talent to join your business can be challenging, but with the right knowledge, you can hire the right person without spending outside of your budget. Making your application visible will help you attract more talents. You don't have to worry about reaching talents, we are here to help you with that. Simply sign-up here to get more eyes on your job adverts.
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