If it seems like your company is a revolving door of employees, you’re not alone. Employee turnover has been getting worse for everyone over the last few years, so now is a good time to make sure you’re using dependable recruitment best practices.
According to some reports, one-third of new employees quit after only 6 months on the job! Hiring and training their replacements (not to mention what it cost you to bring them on board 6 months ago) is extremely expensive and time-consuming.
You deserve to be able to recruit and hire with confidence. In this post, we’ll show you some proven ways to find good employees and attract them to your business.
Recruiting and Training Capable Employees
On average, it costs you anywhere from 20-33% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them.
You spend valuable time and money posting a job, advertising on various platforms, screening applicants, interviewing candidates, hiring, onboarding, and training…for each and every position you fill. Only to have a third of them not even make it an entire year!
That can lead to a lot of stress and lost opportunities for growth.
Recruiting and training good employees is the key to avoiding that kind of pain. With all the other economic and business challenges you’re facing already, the last thing you need to derail your company is unreliable staff.
Recruitment Best Practices
Here are several pointers that we think are especially effective in recruiting the best employees. It’s worth your time and effort to focus on these if you want the best candidates to even consider your company as a place they’d like to work.
1. Make sure your brand is clear.
Employer branding is a big deal to job seekers. Having a clearly defined mission and values can go a long way in defining your brand clearly.
Too many companies clutter their websites and marketing materials with confusing messages that don’t really explain who they are and what they do. Great employees want to work for organizations that are moving in a clear, focused direction. Make sure you’re website, social media, and job postings all communicate that well.
2. Write good job descriptions.
Speaking of job descriptions, a well-written one can often make the difference in whether or not you attract top talent to your company. You can weed out a lot of unqualified candidates by clearly explaining what the job entails and what the ideal applicant needs in order to succeed. Save yourself time and money by allowing potential candidates to eliminate themselves before they even begin.
This is also an ideal place to describe your company’s vision and culture. Allow the tone of the description to give job seekers an idea of whether your business is formal, casual, competitive, fun, or on a mission, and let them decide if it’s what they want.
3. See the candidates as customers.
Just like you need customers to want your products or services, you need great people to want to work with you. Treat potential candidates just like you would your most valued clients.
Respond promptly to their phone calls or emails. Be friendly and engaging. Be clear in your communication. Be genuinely interested in them as a person. Present your company in a way that makes them want to be a part of your team.
4. Conduct good interviews.
Interviews are the most stressful part of the job-seeking process for most people. Candidates that sit down to talk with you are most likely a bundle of nerves, no matter how cool and collected they may appear on the outside. Go out of your way to create an inviting atmosphere.
To help you create a great interview experience, here are “6 Important Interview Questions to Ask When Hiring Your Next Employee” that we wrote about a while back. They’ll help you go a lot deeper than the predictable “tell me about yourself” kinds of questions.
5. Utilize videos and social media.
Make sure you are posting your open positions to top job boards like Indeed, Glassdoor, Google, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter. If the position is in more of a specialized segment of the market, be sure to take the time to list it where the kinds of people you’re looking for already are. The Balance Careers has a great list of “The 22 Best Niche Job Sites.”
Wherever you choose to list your job postings, take advantage of the power of video to offer candidates another way to find out what working for your company is really like. A well-made short video can quickly highlight your values, address questions about your organization, show actual employees doing actual work, and deliver a clear call to action.
6. Utilize past and current employees.
Good people who already work for you (or have been a valuable part of your team in the past) most likely know other good people who need to be there too. Most businesses offer some sort of incentive to encourage current employees to introduce great new talent to the team. Make the reward really good and really celebrate when they bring in great people!
Also, don’t overlook the fact that people who once worked for you might be open to coming back. If you were sad to see them go and everyone left on good terms, it might be worth reaching out with a new offer.
7. Don’t get in a hurry.
The worst thing you can do is rush the process. We get it…that empty position is driving you crazy and slowing down your company. But keep in mind how damaging a bad hire can be, and how valuable an outstanding employee is. Take your time. Do multiple interviews along with several other key staff. Make sure it’s a great fit for everyone. You’ll be glad you did!
Hiring Best Practices
In a previous post titled, “Why The Cost of a Bad Hire Is More Than You Probably Think”, we included several tips on “How to Avoid a Bad Hire” that are definitely worth reading if you’re looking to fill an open position.
You should definitely take a look at that post too, but here are some key points to keep in mind when hiring:
- Do you actually need to hire someone? Can the job duties be divided among existing employees (who you’ll compensate well for the added workload, of course)?
- Be thorough in evaluating potential candidates. Involve leadership from multiple areas of your company in talking to prospective employees. Use tools like “The 6 Types of Working Genius” in your interview process to help you (and the applicant) learn more about how their style would fit within your organization.
- Take your time! We said it earlier, but it’s worth repeating. Go slow and avoid the frustration and expense of hiring the wrong person too quickly.
We Can Show You Effective Recruitment Strategies and the Best Hiring Practices.
For over 40 years, we’ve done more than help clients with their taxes. We’ve helped them build successful businesses. Human Resource Management is just one of the many services we offer through our HR & Payroll Support.
Schedule a call with our team today to learn more!
