Employees are the backbone of any business and a good team can be the difference between success and failure. Hiring the right people is crucial therefore. Hiring the right team reduces turnover costs, encourages growth, improves team morale and increases productivity.
Finding the right people in a crowded market is difficult however, so, how can entrepreneurs go about finding the right people for the job?
The first step to hiring the right people is to identify the talent gaps in your current team and work out who it is you need to complete the team and the talent set.
To do this, begin by listing your company goals. Next, determine what roles are required to reach those goals and create an inventory of skills for each position. Using that list, perform a skill-gap analysis of your current team.
Compare the skills you need from your team against what they already possess. The difference between those two elements is what you should focus on when hiring new employees.
Where to find the right employees
Recruiting employees requires a combination of different tools and techniques. Here are some tools you can use to find qualified candidates:
1. Job boards and career sites
Many recruiters and HR managers use sites such as Indeed, Career Builder, and Dice to find qualified candidates. These sites make recruiting candidates easy by pre-screening applicants based on their resumes on your company’s behalf. If you decide to use job boards to recruit new employees, ensure that you upload detailed job descriptions, salary ranges, and your company’s profile to attract many candidates.
2. Recruiting agencies
Recruiting agencies are external firms that find suitable candidates for employers. Their extensive pool of talent and market knowledge allows you to fill vacant positions faster and with high-quality candidates. Unfortunately, this recruitment method costs more and does not guarantee that the suggested candidates will fit with your company culture.
3. Applicant tracking systems
An applicant tracking system automates resume screening by highlighting CVs, cover letters, and other applicant materials with relevant keywords. While this system makes it easy for you to identify qualified candidates, don’t rely on it to make the final judgment.
4. Social networks
This is an unconventional way of recruiting employees, but with the wide popularity of social media, you’d be doing your business a disservice by not utilising social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and more when searching for your ideal candidate. This article contains some great insights into how you can optimise your candidate search with social media.
How to find the most suitable candidates for your company?
After using the tools mentioned above to find qualified candidates, start the elimination process. Here are a few tips from industry experts to guide you:
1. Qualify your talent
Set expectations for your organisation and ask shortlisted candidates to explain how they qualify for different situations. For example, if you expect your workers to deliver a thousand sales every month, ask every candidate to explain how they plan on achieving this goal.
Doing this will help you build a synergistic team of high achievers who are focused on delivering.
2. Focus on personality and culture fit
Sheryl Lyons of Culture Spark advises employers to prioritise personality and culture fit over skill. Before offering a candidate the job, spend some time knowing them, their behaviour, communication style and what motivates them.
3. Look for motivation and drive above all else
Dedication and willingness cannot be taught. Therefore, you are better off hiring a candidate with lighter skills than expected but is driven to work for your company.
Conclusion
Hiring employees is a crucial part of entrepreneurship. However, it involves more than just finding candidates with the required skill set. It’s all about finding people who will integrate with your current team and work together to take your company to greater heights. Get your team right however, and it will pay dividends in business growth.
