Seeing your business grow is similar to seeing a baby learning to walk; it’s wonderful seeing something that you’ve invested so much time and effort into, grow into something greater than you could have imagined. Unfortunately, a growing business means an increase in your workload. The more you have to oversee, as the owner, the less time you have to focus on the little things. As a result, things could start slipping through the cracks and the business will suffer. When you can no longer manage everything on your own, it’s time to look for new employees to lighten your workload.
But where can you find the right employees? In the past it might have been a simple case of placing an ad in a few job posting sites, then picking the best from a pile of CVs. But now, with so many people desperate to get any job, how do you determine who genuinely wants to work for you, and who just needs a way to make money while they wait for something better to come along? It doesn’t help that there are so many websites and avenues for advertising positions within your company, that your perfect candidate might not even come across your job posting until it’s too late. Since finding good employees is just as difficult as finding a good job, here are a few suggestions to make this essential process a little easier.
Be clear in your advert
In an attempt to attract better quality employees, some employers are advertising positions with job titles like “Support Team”, “Guest Relations”, or “Expert Team” when they actually mean “Customer Services.” By making the job title sound fancier, the idea is that they’ll attract a candidate with plenty of experience, while making them believe that they’re moving up in their career. Unfortunately, this can be offputting for some candidates because they misunderstand what the job entails, therefore they don’t apply thinking that they might not be qualified. To successfully recruit employees, you need to be clear about the position and what the job involves, even if it doesn’t sound impressive. If you can be honest with prospective employees about what they can expect from working with you, then they can also be honest about the valuable qualities they can bring to your company. If you both set out to impress each other, you’re both going to end up disappointed.
Encourage telecommuting
If you have a role in your company that can be done from home, then why not expand your parameters and look for applicants all over the country. Thanks to technology, catching up with employees in different parts of the country is so simple; Skype, Slack, WhatsApp, and other apps make it easier to stay in touch with remote working employees, and make sure they’re staying on target. Encouraging some employees to work remotely, means that you increase your chances of recruiting the perfect person for the job, no matter where they live. If you have to have a face-to-face meeting every once in a while, they will still be happy to commute to the office and interact with their virtual colleagues. As an added bonus, if your employees work from home, everyone saves money. Employees save money on commuting to and from work, on professional suits to wear every day, and on food to eat during their breaks. Not to mention the effects it will have on their mood, as studies have shown commuters have a lower life satisfaction, lower levels of happiness and higher anxiety on average than non-commuters. If enough employees take the option to telecommute to work, then you can also save money on rent by moving to a smaller office building.
Reach out to recruitment companies
No one has time to job hunt all day, especially if they still have a job. Therefore, job seekers give their CVs to recruitment companies so they can search for a suitable job on their behalf. There are recruitment companies that specialise in all kind of industries; admin, medical, or even construction work labour hire companies can find the right employee to join your company when you need to fill a position. Reaching out to these recruitment companies means that you’ll still get good quality applicants, and the company can recommend the clients that are best suited to the job you’re advertising. They can even tell you truthfully whether the client is looking for a permanent, full-time contract, or if they’re willing to work for you on a temporary or casual basis when you’re short-staffed.
Social Media
People post their whole lives on social media, and as potential employers you can use this to your advantage. If you’re interviewing a candidate that looks good on paper and interviewed well, but you’re still not sure if they’ll be a good fit for your business, then check if they have any public social media profiles. LinkedIn is usually the best option because people treat it like a place to post a more detailed CV – you might find some information that fills in some gaps in their CV, and come across some work experience that they didn’t mention because it didn’t seem relevant. You can also check if you have any mutual professional contacts that you can ask for a character reference. LinkedIn is also the best place to find candidates that might not be looking for a job right now, but could still be open to coming to work for you with the right incentive. Twitter and Facebook are another way for you to get some insight into a prospective candidate, because it tells you a little more about how they act in social situations. However, don’t be surprised if their Facebook profile is set to private; some job seekers like to keep their personal and professional lives private, so they don’t consider their Facebook profile relevant to their job search.
The right employees are out there, you just might have to go through some unconventional channels to find the perfect fit.
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To your success,
Vinh Van Lam & Stuart Horrex
Your Coaches ArtSHINE industries
