Today we will outline some of the most effective ways to recruit quality hires. These tried-and-tested strategies could be your best bet to bring in exceptional new hires.
Excel At Recruitment: Advice From An HR Consultant For Small Business In Denver
It's important to note that not all of these recruitment strategies will work equally for every company. Your industry, your company, and your budget will greatly influence your recruitment process.
Be sure to heed our advice regarding these recruitment tactics to have a pool of the best candidates in no time.
1. Post Openings On Niche Job Boards
LinkedIn is the go-to resource for professionals far and wide these days. However, that doesn't mean you'll find the best applicants on that social media platform. It's important to diversify where you're advertising your open positions because you'll find different skill sets in different places.
Are you interested in hiring tech-savvy go-getters? Then consider posting your vacancies on academic job boards and attending undergraduate career fairs. Do you need new workers for a few hourly positions? If so, post your openings on sites like Snagajob. Or are you looking to fill administrative support positions? Then consider posting on Virtual Desk Jobs.
Niche job boards may not have as many users as LinkedIn, but you'll likely attract many more qualified applicants.
2. Establish An Employee Referral Program
Your current employees are not only great workers, but they're also great advocates for your company. So why not incentivize them to bring in your next qualified hires?
Employee referral programs are easy and effective ways to attract suitable candidates for vacant roles. In these programs, you can offer your employees a financial incentive, like a bonus or a gift card, if they refer an applicant who gets hired by your organization. This is an effective recruitment strategy for several reasons:
- Your employees likely know and spend time with like-minded individuals that would be great candidates.
- Your workforce is already familiar with the types of candidates that would be well-suited to the work.
- And you reinforce the value that your workers see in your organization.
As time goes on, you can tweak and improve your employee referral program to increase employee participation rates. You may even experiment with non-monetary incentives, like leisure packages or more PTO days.
3. Emphasize Flexibility
Work/life balance is important and many job applicants will carefully consider that for any position. In an era where remote work is becoming the norm, companies need to take steps to support a healthy work/life balance for their workforce (Forbes). To recruit the right talent, your small business must do two things:
- Give employees flexible work options (e.g., remote work, 4-day work weeks, mental health days, etc.)
- And emphasize that flexibility in the job descriptions.
The traditional 9-5 isn't going anywhere, but the modern workforce is not traditional anymore. Workers value flexibility in their roles now more than ever before. So, your small business needs to take steps to embrace that flexibility.
4. Shorten Your Time To Hire
Timing is everything for employees, business owners, and consumers alike. If a customer experiences a long wait time, they'll likely grow frustrated and find another business. The same can be said for job candidates.
Many businesses miss out on talent simply because they take too long to contact a candidate or to extend an offer. For that reason, it's important to streamline the recruitment and interview processes so you can snatch up quality hires before they're gone.
Take some time to review your internal data and evaluate the average time to hire. Then look for opportunities to expedite the process by reducing the number of interviews per hire or other avenues.
5. Get Creative With Your Recruiting
Job applicants are consistently encouraged to make their resumes stand out from the crowd. From clever formatting tricks to eye-catching color schemes, candidates will try all sorts of tricks to differentiate themselves from the pack. So why not exercise your creative muscles and differentiate your company during recruitment too?
For instance, what if you ditched resumes altogether and instead used hiring tests? Those tests would quantifiably test the skills and knowledge of your applicants, and weed out the unqualified candidates. Plus it's an effective way to help your company stand out from your competitors.
6. Contact Great Applicants From The Past
Have you ever posted a job and received 100 applications? It might've felt overwhelming, but you gradually reduced your list of candidates until the most viable option remained.
When you need to hire for another similar role, don't forget to look through those past applications! You likely had tons of qualified candidates in that stack of resumes that could be great fits for your next open position.
Before you post your next vacancy online, take some time to review recent applications and select the most qualified ones. Then contact those potential hires with a personalized message to notify them about the new option position.
You will likely fill your vacancy quickly thanks to that shortlist of previous applicants. This way, you'll spend less on recruitment and expedite the hiring process so you can spend more time focusing on your core business.
Improve Your Recruitment With A Top HR Consultant For Small Business In Denver
Whether you need IT specialists, remote workers, or new managers, you've come to the right place. At CourtSide Consulting, we have the industry experience, human resource skills, and innovative tools/online resources to help recruit the right employees for your organization.
At our HR consulting firm, we have over 30 years of HR expertise across businesses of all shapes, sizes, and industries. With our refined recruiting tactics and proactive services, we'll improve your hiring process and help you acquire the right talent for your needs. And we can even support a smooth and impressive onboarding experience too!
Contact CourtSide Consulting today to get started with our HR consultant for small businesses in Denver.