If you run a small business and need to hire, it can be difficult to know where to start.
The way you handle hiring new employees can have more of a business impact than you may think. The efficiency in your hiring process may impact finances, time, and operations. How you handle relations with applicants may impact your reputation within the community. Lastly, how prompt and transparent you handle communications with your prospective new hire may affect how likely they are to accept the offer, and how long they stay with the company long term.
Here’s some quick and easy tips to get you started:
- Assure you have robust job ads that accurately outline the position. Avoid posting job descriptions or ads that are vague and unclear. Posting a vague or unclear job ad may work negatively on both ends of the spectrum; it may deter focused and quality job seekers from applying, and it may open the job description up to interpretation, resulting in a flood of unqualified applicants you have to sift through.
- Include the salary information on the job ad! The mass amounts of job seekers have spoken and companies have listened; Gone are the days of hiding salary information! Being upfront from the start sets the tone for clear communication, trasnparency, and honest conversations. When job seekers see the salary range clearly listed, they know immediately whether or not they would even entertain accepting the role if offered, saving time on both ends.
- Have an efficient and concise interview process. Plan ahead, prepare questions and panel. Minimize the amount of interviews, if possible. When the process takes too long or has too many layers, candidates are likely to grow tired of it or feel like they’re getting the run around. They may feel like the company is unorganized or indecisive. What’s worse; a long interview process may result in your chosen candidate finding another job because you took too long (which brings us to the next point).
- Make prompt hiring decisions and follow through. Just like an interview process itself taking too long, waiting to make a decision will likely lose you that coveted new hire. They’ll find something else in the mean time. Move quickly!
- Follow up. Unfortunataely it’s not uncommon for companies to receive applications and never even communicate with their applicants. Social media is full of job seekers airing their grievances about this! Learn how to utilize your ATS to quickly send rejection notices. If you don’t have an ATS, consider mass blind-copy e-mails or text message software to easily get notices out. Anything is better than nothing at all. Most importantly, follow up with candidates you interviewed and decided not to hire, as they’re likely waiting on you to make important life decisions surrounding whether or not they got the job.
Hiring doesn’t have to be scary, and can be quite a positive experience! There’s an innate excitement that comes with bringing a new staff member on board. Offering someone a job working with your company brings a sense of new possibilities that other daily business decisions may not compare with. Instead of dreading the process, look at it in a positive light. As with many things in life, the way you handle your thought process and emotions has a direct impact on how you view the task at hand.
NOTE:
Of course, the short list above is a general overview just to get you started, and there may be different variations of how to go about hiring depending on industries or business needs. We have just scratched the surface here and haven’t gone into detail on items such as where and how to post job ads, methods of recruiting and/or sourcing potential applicants, proper interviewing techniques, pre-employment processes, and salary negotiations. Whew! It can be a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be terrible work! The best part: Eagle Mountain is here to help you with your hiring needs, every step of the way. If you’re a small or medium sized business in need of help with filling your vacancies, contact us today! Let’s get you fully staffed!
Eagle Mountain HR 