When small and medium-sized companies are in their early stages and experiencing enough growth to warrant expanding their team, there are some challenges they face. Getting the right people on board isn’t as simple as advertising the position and conducting interviews. There are key considerations to keep in mind: how do you find the best people? What would make them want to work for you? How do you entice them to stay? Is company culture important?
If you’re unsure or new to recruiting, and you’ve been asking yourself those questions, you’ve come to the right place.
When you think about it, hiring someone who’s the best fit for your team is critical to business success. This is especially important for a business that’s in a growth phase because every new person you hire will play a critical role in business success. Small and medium-sized businesses face different challenges to enterprise-size organisations, and that’s because:
Their financial resources are limited
They typically operate in a fast-paced environment
Employees generally shoulder more responsibility
For those reasons and more, businesses of any size need a robust recruitment plan in place. What we’ve found though, is that recruitment strategies often aren’t given the attention they deserve. So right out of the gate, ask yourself the following:
Are your current staff regularly working overtime?
Are you falling behind on jobs?
Can you maintain your usual level of customer service?
Is your current team lacking in essential skills?
Do you have the financial resources required to expand your team?
If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to any or all of the above, that’s a pretty strong indicator that it’s time to bring new talent on board. If you have a recruitment strategy in place right from the start, then you’ve got an excellent chance of hiring the right person / people who will help your business grow and succeed. Without a clear strategy, you risk getting it wrong, and that can be costly. Remember: your business is only as strong as the people who work for it.
Why you need a consistent recruitment approach
Whether you have one person in charge of recruiting or a whole team, it’s important to make sure that core elements of your recruitment strategy are consistent. This ensures that everyone’s on the same page when hiring, and it will also inspire confidence in the candidates who apply. When you have fixed guidelines in place, you know these critical boxes are being ticked:
Compliance with hiring legislation
Transparency across your company
A good experience for all candidates
When you’ve determined your recruitment criteria – including, obviously, the qualities you’re looking for in candidates – you’ll be able to significantly streamline the process, saving time while ensuring you get the right people on board.
The nine key recruitment steps every business should know
To help you plan an effective recruitment strategy, we’ve developed a chart that will help you take the guesswork out of the recruitment process.
Broken down into three phases, this chart will walk you through each of the nine steps:
Phase One – identifying your business’s needs, creating a recruitment plan, and writing the all-important job description
Phase Two – beginning the search, narrowing down your shortlist, scheduling interviews
Phase Three – doing your due diligence, making the big decision, and delivering on a phenomenal employment experience
Working through the nine steps, you will develop a recruitment strategy that will not only save you time and money but will help ensure you hire people who are the best fit for your company.
Ready to get your recruitment process started? Download the Recruitment Workflow Chart now.
