As a business owner, you know that looking for the right people to join your team is essential. The incorrect hire can end up costing you time and money in lost productivity and training, among other things, and compromise the quality of your business.
However, finding the right employee is never an easy task. The trick is to find recruits who not only possess the necessary skillset and experience but also fit in well with your organization’s culture. With so many factors to consider, you may find the hiring process overwhelming. The great news is, there are several tried and trusted steps you can take to ease the process without compromising the quality of your hires. Therefore, here are seven things you need to remember when searching for a new addition to your team.
Consider Hiring A Professional Recruiting Agency
Many of the successful businesses today have turned to professional recruiting agencies for help. These recruiters are skilled at sourcing, screening, and interviewing candidates within their networks, which gives them an advantage over hiring managers who do not yet have extensive contacts of their own. However, this is not to suggest that you should completely outsource your recruitment process, but you should always be involved in the initial stages. Rather, working with an executive recruiter firm will streamline the entire process by offering you access to greater talent while giving you more time to focus on what matters most – running your business. The best thing about partnering with a recruiting agency is that they can find employees who are already familiar with your business.
Cast A Wider Net When Sourcing Candidates
Part of being involved in the initial stages of recruitment means actively sourcing candidates, regardless of where they might be found. You never know which connection will turn into an ideal hire, so it’s important to cast a broad net when looking for new talent. Picking up the phone and talking to people you haven’t heard from in years or reaching out to former classmates via social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn can go a long way toward expanding your network. Online job boards can also help you reach potential recruits. However, try not to limit yourself there since most won’t spend time searching for employees on their own, and you never know where they might turn up.
Set Reasonable Expectations When You Post Jobs Online
Research has indicated that only about one-third of jobs are posted online to get any legitimate applicants. This means that you shouldn’t expect a six-figure job posting to attract plenty of applications unless perhaps you’re looking for a highly trained executive assistant or a certified medical professional. On the other hand, postings for entry-level positions are often inundated with applicants. The moral here is that you should consider what type of candidate your ideal hire would be and then post accordingly. This way, you will have a fair chance of finding the right candidate as opposed to wasting your time and money on those who aren’t a match.
Be Prepared To Handle An Overwhelming Response
Although it might take several weeks to fill certain types of roles, you might find yourself flooded with applicants when looking for an hourly employee or someone who can work on-site rather than remotely (telecommuting). Unfortunately, the greater the number of applicants you receive, the more tedious and time-consuming sorting through them can be. This is especially true if you’re accepting resumes online, which doesn’t allow candidates to add other relevant information like their LinkedIn profiles or website links. While there’s no way to filter out unqualified applicants, you can save yourself a lot of time by only interviewing those whose skillsets and experience closely match your requirements.
Make The Interview Process As Forthright As Possible
It may seem obvious, but one mistake businesses often make when searching for new hires is not clearly defining exactly what type of person they need before beginning the interview process. By doing this, all candidates will automatically fall into one camp or another without giving anyone a shot who might fit both criteria best. Once you have better knowledge of what your business needs, narrow down your list to those who best fit the requirements. From there, be sure to only conduct interviews with those who are qualified and make it a point to do away with all other candidates as soon as possible.
Be Willing To Pay Top Dollar
It might seem counterintuitive, but hiring top talent can often require paying top dollar because they tend to have more options about where they work next. Because of this, you should never automatically disqualify someone just because their salary expectations won’t fall within your budget’s range since this could mean passing up on an outstanding employee whose talents far outweigh their asking price. In some cases, it will entail spending more money than originally planned, but at the end of the day, it will always pay off to have great people on your team. On the other hand, if you want to consider a particular candidate for future positions, it can help if you can point out examples of how the company’s revenue has increased recently, which could make their salary expectations seem more reasonable.
Focusing On One Person Makes Everyone Else Miss Out
When hiring for key roles in your business, you might find yourself tempted to do everything you can to get that one employee since they play such an integral part in making things happen. However, by doing this without considering their coworkers, who are vital parts of the team as well, you risk creating a gap that may be difficult or time-consuming to fill when they leave. The opposite is also true if they decide not to take the job, after all, so instead of focusing on just one person, try looking at how each would best fit into the great scheme of things with your particular company.
Finding the “perfect” hire isn’t always easy but it’s important to remember that you need to stay focused on what truly matters to attract someone who will be productive, responsible, and committed. With these things in mind, you should be well on your way to finding the person you’re looking for and thus making your business more efficient and competitive in the process. Good luck!
