As a business owner, recruitment may be one of the most difficult parts of your job. That’s why many small business owners enlist the help of a recruiter, as a recruiter’s job is to help find and hire the right people for each business they work with.
Good recruitment is critical for business success and growth, but if you don’t have the help of a recruiter, how do you find the right person and how do you hire them? Here are some pointers:
How To Get Started With Recruitment
The first step to filling current vacancies is finding the right people. So, let’s jump into discussing how to go about finding the right people.
Start by imagining the perfect candidate for the available role. Consider every last detail of this candidate, including:
- Disposition
- Experience
- Work ethic
- Passion
- Interests
You can predict other characteristics a candidate may possess in terms of their demographic – like their age or whether they’re a parent – but make sure that you don’t restrict yourself to these details, as they’re just to help you figure out where to find the right candidate.
Once you’ve imagined your perfect candidate, take it one step further and imagine other characteristics that describe their habits, such as:
- What they read (blogs, publications, social media, etc.)
- The tech they use (desktop or mobile)
- What transport they might use (car or public transportation)
When you know this, you can determine the places where they would hear about your job. For example, if your perfect candidate is in their twenties and just starting their career, you may have the most luck promoting your open role online on social media or offline on public transport.
This process is similar to advertising consumer goods to a specific kind of customer. It’s creative, but it works!
How to Hire The Right People
Finding the right person is step one of recruitment. But once you’ve found them, how do you hire them? Here are some tips on how to hire the right people for the job:
Make Sure Your Interviews are Structured
Although they may look good on paper, the only way you will get to know your candidates is through interviews.
To maximise your time and your candidate’s time, make sure that your interviews are structured. This requires preparation in advance.
Try to include other people in the hiring process, such as HR and other employees, to get a well-rounded view of the candidates. Focus on behavioural questions that reveal how a candidate would react in specific situations. To standardise the interview process a little more, use scorecards to grade each candidate and assess each card at the end.
Look Beyond Their Resume
As mentioned, even if a candidate looks good on paper, they may not be a good fit for your company. During the interview stage, take advantage of the face-to-face interaction by asking candidates questions that their resumes can’t answer. Here are some examples of questions to ask:
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
- What are you most passionate about?
These questions give you a complete picture of who your candidate is, how long they’d potentially stay with your company, and how they will fit in your organisation.
Test Candidates When Necessary
If you’re looking to fill a role that requires a specific skill, another element to implement in your recruitment and hiring process is a test.
Once your candidate passes the interview stage, have them complete either a test or an assignment that demonstrates their abilities in the skills required for the job. If you’re hiring a salesperson, have them give a sales presentation. If they’re a developer, give them a coding test or assignment.
Likewise, if you’re hiring for a more creative role, such as a writer or designer, request that your candidate hand in a portfolio of their work before the interview rounds begin.
Ask for References (and check them!)
Although fewer and fewer businesses are looking at, or giving, references these days, it’s always safer to ask for references and verify them before bringing your candidate on board. A candidate’s previous employer is the best source of information for how the candidate may contribute to your organisation. Even if the reference is academic or personal, they can still give you valuable insights into your candidate.
Your candidate may refuse to provide a reference, especially from their current employer. If that’s the case, research the candidate to see where and with whom they may have worked in the past.
Make an Offer
The last step toward hiring the best person for your business is making an offer. Make sure that your offer is complete with all of the details they need to make a decision.
This part may require some back and forth and negotiating, but in the end, you should end up with the perfect, happy new hire for your team!
Recruitment and Hiring Wrap Up
Recruitment and hiring processes are the way that you keep your business growing and evolving. However, it can be difficult to find the right candidate.
Does this hiring process overwhelm you? The good news is that you don’t have to do it all alone. There are several resources out there to help you find the right talent for your business, including recruitment services and HR consulting agencies such as HRonHand.
HRonHand has plans to suit every budget and can take the hassle off your plate and find the right people for your workplace.
HRonHand provides a guide to help hire the right people which includes:
- Draft interview guides
- Shortlisting candidates and interview coordination
- Reference checks
- Managing candidates
- Initial interviews
- Making offers or assisting you with offers to the preferred candidate.
Learn more about our recruitment services here.
