Recruiting Top Talent to a Less-known Company
It goes without saying that business owners hope to hire the best possible employees for their new companies. One major factor that can stand in the way of this goal is if the business is a startup or is otherwise unknown in the community. Rather than take a position at a new company that has not had time to build up its reputation, top talent may often choose to go with an established brand.
In order to help recruit and retain the best possible employees, even when a company is brand new, consider the following tips:
Match the Going Rate of a Larger Company
A common mistake owners of small businesses make is to base a proposed salary on a budget rather than the reality of what people are getting. For instance, if a retail sales position in your area typically gets a dollar an hour over minimum wage, you will be figuratively shooting yourself in the foot if you offer less. As much as you can, find out what the typical pay is in your area for the different positions and match it. Since you might feel uncomfortable walking into your competitors’ companies and asking “hey, what do you pay your new hires?†you can use a tool such as PayScale to determine what a fair and typical wage is for different positions in your area.
Offer Plenty of Perks
Well-qualified workers are attracted to more than just pay. Beyond having opportunities for growth and fitting into a company’s culture, applicants are looking for work perks. This could include anything from free snacks in the break room to more generous perks, such as a stipend for their cell phones. With this in mind, you might let your employees choose from a selection of the latest phones from one of the major carriers, or you could pay for a generous cell phone plan, which would save them the expense of a monthly smartphone bill. Other perks to consider include the chance to work from home, helping the employee pay for a gym membership, and/or discounts on green fees at the local golf courses. By extending a generous warm welcome, new employees will likely feel trusted and valued, which will turn them into long-time employees.
Allow Them to Take Over an Area of Your Company
One drawback to working in a large and established firm is the feeling that you are a small fish in a big pond. To attract top talent to your new company, consider offering these go-getters the chance to “own†an area of your business. In the case of start-ups, there is typically tons of work to be done and limited staff. Highly motivated applicants will probably be delighted to have the chance to develop and manage an area of a company and help the new business to succeed.
Start Tooting Your Own Horn
If you are not well-known in your area, start taking tangible steps to get the word out about your company and what you do. Host some happy hours and invite the community to attend, ask about being a guest speaker at a local industry-related event, and/or use the power of social media to get the word out about the cool things your company is up to, and why you are a great place to work. Since you are already super busy with getting your company off the ground, use an app such as Hootsuite to manage your social media accounts; you can share and schedule posts for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, all from the easy to use app.
Hire the Right People
A smaller business occasionaly feels desperate and feel like they need to hire the first person that walks through the door. Big mistake. Hiring the wrong people can send your business into a tail spin — damaging your credibility. Hiring the wrong person damages the morale of good people. You end up spending twice as much time managing the low performers instead of recognizing and growing the high performers. Wait and hire the best people available. The chore of hiring people is simplified by using hiring assessments.
If You Build It, They Will Come
As you start the hiring process, please do not be discouraged by the lure of the larger companies for top talent. By following these tips and offering a competitive salary, attractive perks and opportunities for job-related growth, you should find plenty of highly qualified and motivated people who are clamoring to work for you. Here is another good article called, “How do you get the best people to join your team and help you grow your startup.”
