Recruiting Challenges for Small and Mid-Sized Employers: 3 Strategies to Find Top Talent

By: Katie Cummins, HR Consultant

Good news, it’s Q1 2020 – your organization is growing, and you need to hire more people! Bad news, it’s Q1 2020 business is knocking but it’s not as easy as you might think.  If you are a small or mid-size business struggling to find the right talent, you’re not alone. Our founder, Nicole Martin did ® coin The Talent Emergency back in 2015. Finding and keeping quality employees poses a challenge for business owners of all sizes.  The top challenge across industries and companies of all sizes is finding the right talent.  So, what strategies can you use to find and hire the best talent with limited budgets or resources?

1. Focus on your Employment Brand

An employment brand is essentially what the prospective talent believes it will be like to work for an organization.  It’s the experience your prospective, current and past employees have with your company and your company’s reputation as an employer.  While larger organizations may have resources and budgets solely dedicated to their employment brand, that doesn’t mean that you can’t build a positive employment brand.  While you may not have a big budget, you have great employees and their stories can be a powerful tool.  Sharing their positive employee experiences is a simple step to build your brand.   Also be sure to focus on your company’s vision, mission, values, and culture.  Promote what it’s really like to work for your company and highlight a realistic preview of your organization.  Tell a meaningful story about your company and why it’s great to work there. People will listen, preview and search you long before you they say, “Yes!”

2. Implement an Effective Hiring Process

With limited time and resources, small businesses need to be as efficient as possible during the recruiting process.  An effective process helps organizations find the right talent more quickly, brings validity to the process, and saves time and money by more efficiently using internal resources to fill a position.

An effective hiring process should start with defining the position and having a job description in place.  That job description can then be used to advertise and recruit candidates.  What is really essential for this person to be successful? Applicants should go through a pre-screening process which may involve a phone interview, assessment, or other screening procedure. Check out our free Webinar on Hiring Right the FIRST Time  During the pre-screening phase, promote the position and the unique company benefits/advantages while also assessing a candidate’s background.  The goal is a mutual fit. Don’t forget how important lifestyle is now for many!  Once the top candidate has been identified, conduct references! Yes, we feel if a candidate doesn’t have at least two human who can vouch for them, it may be a concern. Extend an offer and DON’T WAIT. A level talent has choices and if you even pause in today’s market, you could lose talent. The best businesses know how to identify their talent at any time. Some of our clients even carry business cards that are made for the purpose of handing someone an offer to meet based on the first impression. Many will even create opportunities even when a position is not open and posted. Find the ONE! Make the offer and just protect any fast decision making by making all contingent on post offer screening. Yes, we recommend a complete post-offer background checks as you would be surprised what people lie about, hide and some of those facts could put your business at risk. In contrast, however, if talent is forthcoming with a riddled background and shares that proactively, honesty is something to appreciate and recidivism is a talent strategy some of the best employers in the nation swear by in today’s market.   Following an efficient process will make recruiting easier and more efficient and give candidate’s an idea of what to expect of your recruiting process.   Remember, every applicant that touches your business, transaction ally or otherwise is a PR voice no matter the outcome.

3. Everyone is a Recruiter

Get everyone to recruit!  Tap into the enthusiasm and credibility of the people who already work at your company, and essentially find more people like the top talent you already have.  It’s one of the most powerful and cost-effective ways to recruit talent.  Encourage (and even reward) your employees to introduce suitable candidates and have them reach out to their friends, family, and former colleagues.  Employee referral programs help find passive candidates, can yield a more diverse candidate pool, and boosts employee morale.  Offering an employee referral bonus, or reward, is a great way to incentivize referrals and it can save money.  Positions tend to fill faster when there is a referral, which means less time to fill a position, and less money spent on additional postings or alternative recruitment methods.    How can you incentivize an employee referral bonus? Offer cash bonuses, extra vacation days, a donation to a charity of choice for the referring employee, or simply offering recognition at the company for being a team player and brand ambassador.

What Can Small and Mid-Sized Businesses Do Next?

At HRBOOST®, we recommend the following steps employers should take:

• Strive to become an “Employer of Choice” by offering competitive salaries, benefits, and retirement savings options. And remember, at the end of the day, it’s all about how you make someone feel. Offer flexibility: hours, commute, and working from home.  Job seekers want flexibility and if you don’t have it, find a way to build it in, if even, every now and then!
• Build an intentional culture, live your company values and promote why it’s a great place to work, it doesn’t have to be expensive;
• Ensure you have a recruiting process in place and follow it. Define the process, who is involved, and create standardized interview questions.
• Get everyone involved in your recruiting efforts – promoting the job, utilizing their networks, and even team interviewing.

The best advantage a business has over its competition is its TALENT. You can make a great product or offer an amazing service, but it is your people that help the business succeed.  Finding the right talent is essential to your business.

At HRBOOST®, we can help!  From job analysis, to recruitment support, to creating the right culture and becoming an employer of choice, we have the people and proven strategies to step in.  Give us a call, we are always on standby!