Attracting and then retaining the best staff is no easy feat, especially for smaller organizations. You will need a robust strategy for each challenge – one for signing on new staff to fill your vacant job positions and another to keep them and all your staff happy.
This article focuses on how to formulate a process that win over even the most reluctant prospective employee.
What is going through the minds of job hunters when they are searching for a new role? Put yourself in their shoes, there are a lot of job vacancies, and not a lot of time to spend on fully appreciating each offer.
“Why should I work for your company?” This is the first question prospective employees ask before they go on to view your company’s profile. Candidates always want to know what you are offering them before they consider applying for positions at your company.
Sometimes, finding qualified candidates to fill positions is difficult, and it’s frustrating because time is of the essence. Still, there are ways through which you can reach the right candidates, but knowing how to do that is vital.
Consider out of the box options with the following six not-so-traditional ways to attract more candidates for positions at your company.
Salary Structure
Candidates are interested in your company’s salary structure. How much are you willing to pay for their services and time? How is the salary packaged? For example is your business using traditional, broadband, step scales, or pure market salary structures?
You should understand salary structure when you want to hire new candidates for your company. With the right salary structure, you’ll know if you’re paying candidates competitively or if you should crosscheck your payment plans.
Company Culture
Let candidates know what to expect with your management style, employee benefits, and recognition programs.
Not only is it is okay for prospective employees to want to know what benefits your company can provide them, but they will also want to know how your business will value their work and presence.
How much of a positive change will working in your company be for them? Will they experience career growth, or will they be stifled by the rules and regulations that guide employees at your company? These are crucial issues you should carefully consider before sending out a “We are Hiring” notice.
You can get more candidates to apply at your company by providing more revealing information. Therefore refrain from just mentioning basics, including the following:
- Company location
- Salary and compensation details
- Job Responsibilities
- Candidate requirements i.e., education, skills, training, and experience
To inspire the best candidates, offer unique information about your company. Your aim is to set it apart from your competition. Consider sharing a story of what it’s like working in your company.
In an interview with Forbes, Fontenot advises that you make videos of your existing staff members and managers being interviewed. You will need their permission before you video them and share the video. However, you may be surprised at how many of your team are eager to assist you so future colleagues are a good fit.
Questions could include what it’s like working for the company, the health state of working there, and the benefits they have gained working with you. This strategy will give you a more impressive result than just sending out the basics of employment openings.
Social Media: The New Curriculum Vitae
Before you say “No,” hear us out. Social media is more than just socializing platforms. With social media, you can reach out to more prospective candidates, especially if you’re searching for people between 18-34. You can create social media accounts for your company and engage people on those platforms.
When you send out job vacancies on social media, the news travels to many people. Having a well-known company and a wide range of followers will be easier for you. However, if you have a small company, asking your current employees to post about the job openings on their social media accounts will still reel in results.
In addition, your employees can talk about how fulfilling it is and how much fun they get from working at your company. Through your employees’ referrals, qualified candidates with access to their accounts will apply for these job roles.
Suitable Policies for Employees
With every generation of employees come new policies. Enforcing suitable policies for the employees at your company can help you attract more candidates for positions at your company.
Talent is always found where it is valued, and these suitable policies show a value system to prospective employees. One of these suitable policies includes casual Fridays, where employees trade in their official work clothes for casual outfits.
Another one is Bring Your Pet to Work Day when employees are allowed to bring their pets to work.
To attain balance, you must ensure that these policies fit the different generations of employees at your company.
Competitions and Contests
Another way to attract more candidates for positions at your company is to host competitions and contests. Hosting job competitions and contests will provide your company with great opportunities to hire qualified people. Companies like Samsung and Lego hold competitions to ensure they hire the right people.
When you organize these competitions, you get a larger pool of prospects, but here’s the catch. You find people who have the right zeal and determination to overcome the challenges you set. You also create opportunities for these individuals to discover their strengths and weaknesses.
Lastly, there’s every chance you’ll hire more qualified people compared to established companies.
Respect Candidates
One key way to gain more candidates for positions at your company is to respect them. Keep to the time that you have set for interviews, respect their wishes and privacy, and speak to them with an understanding that they are humans too.
Candidates have, more often than not, abandoned companies where their hiring managers do not keep to this code of conduct. As a company, you should ensure that your hiring managers reflect your company’s values and select them with utmost importance.
Once this is set in place, prospective candidates feel at ease with the level of human treatment meted out at your company.
Final Words
Your business can start attracting qualified and talented prospective employees today.
Enforcing the above strategies can help you achieve your employment goals. Candidates should understand what it feels like to work at your company. That way, they attach value and purpose to working for you. It’s all about buy-in, which your staff can collaborate with and revealing the best reasons to apply for a role with your business.
