Recruiting the right people is a key factor in the success of any size of business, but for small to medium sized businesses with small teams, the stakes are even higher. You need to ensure that you’ve found someone who has the professional skills and knowledge to perform the role, but who also fits in with the dynamics of your existing team. Finding the best employees is not a case of releasing a job advert and waiting for them to come to you. Many firms will choose to use specific recruitment agencies to hire their desired employees. For example, if someone is starting up an eCommerce business they may want to consult with a recruitment agency like this sales recruiters company in Toronto or another company local to them. It’s not enough for new employees to be satisfactory; every employee you introduce into your team should add value to your business, and there are plenty of tactics and techniques you can adopt to significantly improve your recruitment process.
- Re-focus Your Job Descriptions
It’s common practice for companies to advertise positions with job descriptions which are essentially a list of responsibilities and demands. While it’s important to be upfront and accurate about the skills and experience you’re looking for, you shouldn’t forget to include what you can offer candidates as an employer. The best candidates won’t be applying for every position they see, they will be making their own short-list of the kind of companies they can see themselves working for. Find out how to write a job description.
- Work with a Specialist Recruitment Company
You may want to consider working with a recruitment agency to help you filter through the applications and CVs to find the gems. However, for the best results, try to find a recruitment agency which specialises in recruitment for your industry. For example, financial services recruitment agencies will understand the financial market, its unique challenges and will already be in contact with candidates with relevant experience.
- Promote Your Brand
Consider how your brand will be perceived by candidates. Potential employees will usually research a company before applying, and should certainly do so before an interview, and you need to ensure your company is an attractive place to work. If you’re not sure how this is done, contact an employer branding agency to help promote your brand or firm. Show the benefits, company culture, the working environment and celebrate your existing employees with a ‘meet the team’ page. Ensure your positive customer reviews are visible so that candidates can see that you provide a quality and trustworthy service they would want to be a part of.
- Act Quickly
The best candidates are going to be snapped up quickly, so when you find a potential candidate who ticks all the boxes and then some, it’s best not to waste time. After you’ve interviewed them – even if you’re not sure you’ll be offering the position to them – it’s a good idea to get in touch to keep the lines of communication open. You could give them the opportunity to ask questions that have occurred to them since the interview or discuss the role in more detail. And if they clear the interview round, then you can potentially think about screening them for the next round which could be a hiring assessment process through the form of a written test.
- Match Personalities to Roles
Skills and experience are obviously essential, but they are not the end of the recruitment story. Personality traits are essential when recruiting for some roles. Empathy and patience would be great attributes in a teacher or a nurse, whereas a salesperson is more likely to be successful if they are outgoing and confident. In addition, when you’re bringing a new person into the team you need to know how they will work with your existing employees.
You need to ensure that your interviews are structured to focus on aspects of their personality such as emotional intelligence, motivation and temperament. This is sometimes referred to as behavioural interviewing. If you have 2 candidates with very similar experience and qualifications, these factors could make all the difference to your decision.
