You’ve heard it all before. There is a war for talent and it’s not getting any easier to fill those critical roles that are fundamental to your organization’s success. If you are like most SMBs, you may be asking yourself how you can compete with the big guys. Come hither friends because we have put together seven steps to help small business attract big talent!
1.Own who you are – This is not a time for “fake it till you make it”. You have a unique value proposition and it’s time to discover who you are as an employer and share that uniqueness with the world. Before commencing a recruitment journey, self-reflection is a great starting point.
You may wish to formalize this self-reflection and analysis in the form of an Employee Value Proposition (EVP). To learn more EVPs, click here. Regardless of how deep you wish to go with the process, you can’t attract others to your mission if you don’t know who you are first.
2.Design an end to end recruitment process – Now that you’ve uncovered your “secret sauce”, it’s time to build a candidate journey that delivers a remarkable candidate experience while optimizing the journey for efficiency.
Time kills deals! This is as true in recruitment as it is in sales. This is not about how quickly you can hire a body. This is about process excellence and allowing quality candidates to effectively navigate the journey with ease.
Not a DIYer? No worries, check out our recruiter training and blueprint…The Powerhouse Process. Still got the DIYer bug? We love that! Keep reading.
3.Train your hiring leaders– Your hiring leaders will shape the journey so we best be skilling them up to deliver a first rate experience. Train your hiring leaders on the overall process, what to ask in the interview and what not to ask. Help them see the bigger talent brand picture. Knowledge is power so enrich their skill-set with tools and education to help them rock the recruitment process.
4.Clearly define your needs upfront– Now that you have the process down, it’s time to consider the needs of the current vacancy. Many hiring leaders fail to spend the time to consider the true business need, not a wish list or a generic list of skills. What are the REAL requirements based on the actual accountabilities for the role? What skill-set would one need to have in order to perform the role? Next, articulate those needs in a manner that highlights your EVP or the “why” around your organization.
5.Select the right channels for advertising – Consider your ideal candidate and ask yourself where might they be spending their time. Select ideal channels and monitor your progress. If a channel is not producing the ideal results, optimize the posting further or select a new channel. Regular monitoring will allow for process speed and ease.
Better yet, consider programmatic job advertising where you only pay per applicant and roles are distributed across numerous channels. We’ve partner with a leader in programmatic advertising and can support you through this process. Hit us up here.
6.Add personal touches along the way – Once your have shortlisted candidates and have started the journey, make it special! This is where a SMB can shine!!! Many large organizations lose prospective talent by being plagued with impersonal and generic candidate experiences. The interview process is a time for authentic relationship building, not a tick box exercise.
Block multiple interviews into one day to help candidates have an easier time attending. Switch up the interview venues throughout the day by moving from meeting room to employee lounge to local coffee shop. Help candidates envision themselves working there, walking the neighbourhood, feeling out the employee experience. This alone is game changing!
7.Close out the process with a killer onboarding process– Knock it out of the park with an outstanding onboarding process. This doesn’t need to mean endless curriculum building. This is all about helping talent build a strong internal network quickly, communicating the excitement of their arrival to the team in advance, and planning for a special first week. Double down on people related activities and have a simple checklist to get the routine tasks organized such as technology ordering.
Well there you have it! As an SMB, you have a unique opportunity to humanize the recruitment process like no other. It all comes down to strategy, process excellence, and hiring leader development.
Ready to learn more? Check out our courses and coaching programs here.