Arguably the secret sauce to any organization is its people. The right (or wrong) people can make or break a business. They can mean the difference between going out of business, stagnating, and exploding in growth.
It all starts with the hiring process. Startups are a relatively unique phenomenon, but their best practices for hiring aren’t. Discover how to attract and retain top talent by reading on.
The All-Important Hiring Process
Employee turnover – also known as churn-and-burn – is unquestionably a negative for any organization. Even in an era of job-hopping, a high employee turnover rate does a company no favors.
That’s why you want to hire talented people who will last at your business.
Begin by bolstering your business’ brand. Job-seekers want to work for good companies, but they’ll never know how good yours is if you don’t promote it.
A strong employer brand lowers employee turnover by 28 percent. It also draws in the passive job candidates who make up over 75 percent of professionals.
You also need to make decisions efficiently and quickly. Top candidates are off the market in 10 days, according to Office Vibe. If you’re interested in a certain applicant, don’t play hard-to-get.
Follow up with them often and discuss job details to stay on their radar. Reply immediately to any concerns or questions they may have to update them throughout the hiring process.
The Devil Is in the Detail
Pay close attention to the details of the process, like your job descriptions.
The Wall Street Journal found that job descriptions with lists of requirements and responsibilities can alienate qualified employees. You can choose to write descriptions using the Needs-Supplies approach or the Demands-Abilities Approach.
The former explains what a company can do for a candidate. The latter says what a company expects from a candidate. You’ll get better candidates with the Needs-Supplies approach.
In addition, you should fully embrace social media and digital trends. Besides doing a standard background check, look at candidates’ social media profiles. However, note that it’s legally questionable to let a candidate’s social media activity influence your hiring decisions.
Remember that personality matters, just not in the way you may think it does. See how a candidate’s personality traits match with daily job tasks. Empathy, for example, is more important for a social worker or nurse than a computer programmer or tax lawyer.
Next, interview better. Do so by focusing not only on technical competence, but also on temperament, emotional intelligence, motivation, and coachability.
Don’t forget to let candidates interview you, too. That way they can better understand if you’re the right fit for them.
Finally, monitor your company’s reviews on Glassdoor, Indeed, and similar sites. Jobseekers check them for honest, transparent takes on what it’s really like to work for your company.
When it comes time to pay your new hires, you’ll need a pay stubs maker.
Love and Work
The hiring and dating processes bear many resemblances. Just as you, the discerning chooser, (have) sift(ed) through your sea of romantic options to find the one, you – the employer – have an abundance of choices.
Choose wisely during the hiring process by taking the advice above. Reap the benefits of other HR advice in the site’s Business section.
