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How To Narrow Down Your Recruitment Search To Find The Best Talent

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Recruiting Employees
 
When embarking on the hiring process, there are all the typical ways to find new employees for your business. You might post on job boards online, for example, or you might advertise your vacancies at a job fair. This is all well and good, and such methods may prove fruitful. However, you may face a huge number of applicants, and picking out the best of the bunch can be a time-consuming task. But what if there was a way to cut through all of that? What if you could gain access to the best employees in a more efficient way? Well… you can!

The next time you need to find employees for your business, consider how you might narrow down your search to find the best talent. We have some ideas here that will not only help you find employees for your business, but that should also help you get the best possible candidates for the job you have to offer. Interested? Sure you are! After all, you have positions to fill, and you want the very best people for the job.

#1: Use social media

You probably use social media for both your personal and business life, but did you know it could be useful within the hiring process? You might want to join certain Facebook groups connected within your industry, for example, as you will then have the means to both advertise jobs and network with other employers who may know of people who would be a good fit within your business. You might also use LinkedIn for the same purposes, as again, you can both post your vacancy and network with other business professionals. Social media also gives you access to HR tech influencers, the influencers and leaders in talent acquisition who may be able to give you some specific advice on your recruitment process. And you can also use social media to attract possible candidates, posting images of your hopefully happy workforce online, alongside comments from past and current employees as to why they enjoy(ed) working for you.

#2: Engage your current employees

As suggested above, you might ask your employees to post something on social media to attract the attention of job seekers. You might also offer your employees a cash bonus to refer candidates to you. They might know of people who would be a perfect fit for your business, be they friends, ex-colleagues, or people they studied with at college or university. You do need to be careful – you don’t want your employees referring people to you who aren’t a good fit, just to get that cash bonus – so you still need to be diligent within the hiring process, only interviewing those people who match your job description, and giving out the cash bonus only when a referred candidate successfully fills a position.

#3: Reach out to colleges and universities

Reach out to soon-to be college graduates, catching them early by arranging a time to visit colleges and universities to promote your business and talk about the benefits of working for you. This is your opportunity to find the freshest young minds about to embark on a possible career within your industry, so you might be able to snap them up before your competitors do. You might also post your vacancies on student job boards, publications, and social media groups. Consider running an internship programme too, giving college students the opportunity to get valuable work experience with you. Not only is this useful to them, but if you have interns that prove invaluable to you, you will have the opportunity to directly approach them with a job offer. Check out our previous article for more advice on hiring college graduates.

#4: Break down geographical barriers

Do you need to employ employees within your locale? If you are able to hire remote workers, then do so. Modern technology allows you to communicate and collaborate with people all over the world, so if you can’t find the top talent in your town or city, consider reaching out to people elsewhere in the world. Okay, so we are talking about narrowing down your search and not expanding it, but you can still channel your efforts through job ads on social media, or you might advertise and search for applicants on websites such as We Work Remotely. The world, as they say, is your oyster!

#5: Use your website

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Recruiting Employees
 
Your website will primarily be used by customers and clients, but it might also attract the attention of potential candidates. They will be Googling specific job roles, so they might stumble upon your business within their search. Therefore, create a ‘We Are Hiring’ page on your website, where people can scour the positions you have available. And even you are not hiring, or when your positions have been filled, you might still accept resumés from those looking for a job, in the event a vacancy will be opened up in the future. To ensure the right candidates find your website, use these SEO tips to optimise your job adverts, and link your website to the social media groups that pertain to your business.

#6: Consider your current employees

You might not need to start the hiring process if you have employees that are suited to the positions you have to offer. Talk to your employees about any potential vacancies coming up, and encourage them to approach you if they are interested. Or, having had a read through of their resumés you already have on file, directly approach them with the opportunity to do something different. Not only will this save you time and money on the hiring process, but you might a) find the very best person from within your team, and b) give one of your employees greater job satisfaction by giving them something more closely linked to their abilities.

Over to you

We hope these tips have been useful to you, but what do you think? Have you utilised ways to narrow down the recruitment search when you have had job vacancies within your business? Let us know if so, and give us all the opportunity to both find the best employees, and spend less time in trying to do so. Thanks for reading.

The Big Picture of Business – Each Role Matters. The Value of Support Staff

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StrategyDriven Big Picture of Business ArticleEvery person in the company matters to its success. Every job is important, as is filling them with the best people for each job. The art and skill of being great support staff is a cornerstone of business success.

From pop culture, think of the great role models that we grew up watching:

Della Street was the loyal secretary to Perry Mason. She knew what everyone was thinking and was the glue to the cases. She was the model for executive assistants and office managers everywhere.

The CEO is made stronger with a good C-suite team. Ed McMahon was TV’s premier second banana. He worked as assistant, announcer, commercial pitchman and sketch narrator to Johnny Carson throughout their 29-year run on NBC-TV’s “Tonight Show.” They had previously worked together on a game show, “Who Do You Trust” on ABC-TV. Bandleaders on the late-night are vital #3 characters on the show, including Doc Severinsen, Skitch Henderson, Paul Shaffer and The Roots band.

The movie star heroes had buddies to help them navigate the adventures. John Wayne and Roy Rogers had Gabby Hayes. Gene Autry had Pat Buttram.

TV show stars had great support casts. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Ethel & Fred Mertz. This historic teaming became the formula for most other TV sitcoms. Shows like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “30 Rock,” “The Office” and others had expanded ensemble casts.

Some performers made careers as supporting players. Ann B. Davis was Schultzy on “The Bob Cummings Show” and Alice on “The Brady Bunch.”

Back characters on TV shows included restaurant and bar operators, where the stars went top relax. There were friendly, familiar places such as Cheers bar, Arnold’s Drive-In on “Happy Days,” the Krusty Krab on “SpongeBob Square Pants,” Dale’s Diner on “The Roy Rogers Show” and other homey places. In the business world are those staff people who make us feel more like family. Therefore, our loyalty to the company rises, and we are more productive.

Still other back characters bring cohesion to the enterprise. On “Gilligan’s Island,” those glue-adhesive characters were the Professor Roy Hinkley and Mary Ann Summers. Those vital employees in the business world might include the IT guy, the receptionist, the mailroom manager, the ethics adviser and the secretary to the Board of Directors.

Great executives know the value of crediting support figures for the business success. Lt. Columbo was always quoting his wife as basis for testing hypotheses, though the character was never shown. Newspaper publisher Perry White was always upstaged by his employees, notably Clark Kent/Superman. Al Roker does the weather on “The Today Show,” and he is also the motivating segment host as well. Nobody turns letters like Vanna White, making her essential to the legacy of “Wheel of Fortune.”

And then there were those mentors behind the scene who were responsible for lots of creativity. The Beatles had George Martin as their producer. Steven Spielberg had John Williams as music composer for his films.

A host of people make the CEO look good. Further, they transform the company to greater plateaus. Warmly recognize the contributions of executive assistants, trusted advisers, mentors, support staff, hier apparents, adjuncts, vendors and outside stakeholders.

Here are some characteristics of support personnel and rising stars who will make it as professionals and business leaders:

  • Act as though they will one day be management.
  • Think as a manager, not as a worker.
  • Learn and do the things it will take to assume management responsibility.
  • Be mentored by others.
  • Act as a mentor to still others.
  • Don’t expect status overnight.
  • Measure their output and expect to be measured as a profit center to the company.
  • Learn to pace and be in the chosen career for the long-run.
  • Don’t expect that someone else will be the rescuer or enable you to cut corners in the path toward artificial success.
  • Learn from failures, reframing them as opportunities.
  • Learn to expect, predict, understand and relish success.
  • Behave as a gracious winner.
  • Acquire visionary perception.
  • Study and utilize marketing and business development techniques.
  • Contribute to the bottom line, directly and indirectly.
  • Offer value-added service.
  • Never stop paying dues and see this continuum as “continuous quality improvement.”
  • Study and comprehend the subtleties of life.
  • Never stop learning, growing and doing. In short, never stop!

About the Author

Hank MoorePower Stars to Light the Business Flame, by Hank Moore, encompasses a full-scope business perspective, invaluable for the corporate and small business markets. It is a compendium book, containing quotes and extrapolations into business culture, arranged in 76 business categories.

Hank’s latest book functions as a ‘PDR of business,’ a view of Big Picture strategies, methodologies and recommendations. This is a creative way of re-treading old knowledge to enable executives to master change rather than feel as they’re victims of it.

Power Stars to Light the Business Flame is now out in all three e-book formats: iTunes, Kindle, and Nook.

How to Hire the Best Employees for Your Company

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StrategyDriven Talent Management ArticleEmployees are the heart and soul of the company. It is due to these workers that success can be achieved, and that the day-to-day operations run smoothly. However, how do you find these types of employees? Not every single person will be a good fit for your company, and you need to find someone who is not only a fit for your sake, but for theirs as well. What’s the point of having employees that don’t perform their work? This doesn’t benefit the business in any way. On the other hand, there is no sense in working there for the individual either, if they aren’t happy with what they are doing, as they will not put in any effort if this is the case. There is a way to find and hire the best individuals for the job, and there are a few steps that must be taken in order to do this.

Think about who you need

Every single person has a certain role to play within the business operations. When it is time to hire someone new, you should already have a clear image in your mind about what role you need to fill. It could happen that someone unexpected comes along and talks about how much they want the job at hand, but when you put up a job posting online, the description needs to be detailed about the type of person you require. That being said, it could be that someone who doesn’t fit the exact criteria will be the best fit, so you shouldn’t close your mind off to the idea, either.

Reviewing applications

Reviewing applications is something that will take a while, and it’s the first course of action before you start calling people into interviews. Not everyone will be called, although it is also hard to judge someone based on simply a piece of paper. You can take a look at what they have worked in the past if they jotted down any extracurricular activities and so on. Some may even opt to do a quick search of the individual across social media platforms, to get a better feel for them before calling them into an interview.

Experience and credentials

If you are looking to hire someone that can fill up a graphic designer role, an electrical engineer, an architect or anything else it might be, you want to make sure the person has the experience or background in that field. You want them to be able to perform at work, and there is no sense in hiring an electrical engineer whose school and work experience lies in a marketing field. Thus, one of the first steps when reviewing applications more thoroughly is to take a look at what their past background is.

Holding several interviews

The interview process is often lengthy, and it would also be worth your while, as a company, to hold several interviews with an individual, as opposed to just one. Having different workers from the business involved would be a good idea as well in order to get a true feel for that prospective employee. Both parties should ask plenty of questions, but you should also keep an open mind during the process.

Aligned with company culture and values

It’s more than experience that is necessary for an employee to work effectively within a certain company setting. A big part of it is also fitting in with the company culture, but even more so, about aligning with the values of the work. Does the prospective employee believe in what the business is doing? If they do, the work they produce will also showcase that fact.

Offering a different perspective

You want people to bring a different perspective and approach to the table. This is often how the best ideas end up forming together, and it is something that should be encouraged. However, more than just this, you should consider hiring different types of employees. While having individuals that are employed full-time is important, you should also consider what options there are for outsourcing some people for certain projects. When someone is not accustomed and integrated into the company and the way it thinks, they will bring something completely new to the table. For instance, you can outsource a chief financial officer that can offer advice to the company on how to best improve their profitability. Having these type of employees around is like having a secret weapon at your disposal, and you can discover more about the benefits of doing this.

Set expectations

Leaders need to set expectations and guidelines for what is expected of the employees. While it is important to take into consideration everyone’s advice, there also needs to be a type of structure set in place that helps move things along. There shouldn’t be a finger of blame pointed at an employee that didn’t accomplish something that was assumedly expected. First, the manager should consider whether or not they were clear about their expectations.

Treat them well

When a company treats employees well, they will also work better and more efficiently. This isn’t something that your organization should do for the purpose of productivity, but because it’s important and the best course of action in this aspect. A successful business is built on hard-working people who believe in the company, and vice versa, as they work together in order to achieve the various goals and tasks in question. At the end of the day, treat people with respect, and demonstrate through action, not merely words, that they are a valuable asset to the day-to-day work.

A company should never under-estimate the importance of its people. If the people working for you aren’t happy, you will not succeed. It’s not only up to the workers to be experts in what they do, but the as an organization, you need to show that you value what they are doing. Give them positive feedback, and most importantly, listen to what they have to say. The decisions that make up the company is something that should involve everyone, as it also affects everyone.

Effective Ways to Get the Best from Your Employees

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StrategyDriven Talent Management ArticleIn the world of modern business, any way that you can get ahead of your competition and make your business more efficient is worth it. In order to make these gains there are several things you need to do. However, the main one is ensuring that your employees are on board and working together towards the same goal. Even though your workers are a group of individuals, there are ways you can get them working together effectively. Here are some effective ways that you can get the best out of your employees.

Make Productivity a Central Issue

If you ask your employees to work harder, the majority of them will probably comply. However, not all of them will, and this might be because there is no general work ethic to work harder or longer. To get the best from your employees, you need to make productivity one of the central core values of your business:

  • Create a mission statement that sets out in detail everything that your company needs to do and is expected from your workforce.
  • Put this mission statement at the heart of your company and show it to any potential employees. That way when they come for an interview, they will have no doubt what’s expected from them.

Reward Innovation and Efficiency

Many businesses have a mixture of talented people, some of them might not necessarily be doing jobs that they were initially trained for or that they have the qualifications for. These hidden talents can be the best way forward for your company as they could be used to innovate your business and provide efficiency. To find these hidden gems try and encourage work-related competition to find new ways of working and new ideas. As an added incentive you can offer a reward for the best idea and allow the employee who came up with the idea the opportunity to work with the team to implement it.

Make Training Effective

Effective training is more than simply teaching your employees what to do; it also enables them to work to the same objectives and to create a consistent product. Good training also helps your employees feel valued and allows them to have a degree of autonomy. You also need to ensure that you are giving your workers the most up-to-date training possible. You can read more here about some of the more important training that they should be getting as a matter of routine. How you deliver the training is as important as the content itself, it needs to be fun and interactive to capture your worker’s imagination and stop them from tuning out.

Have Clear Rules in Place

People generally find discipline a lot easier to deal with when there are parameters clearly set. You need to ensure that your rules are detailed, and any consequences are clearly laid out. For example, if you have within the rules that workers are allowed to make phone calls but only during their lunch hour, then they will understand that this is the appropriate time. You also have to lay out what will happen should they make calls outside this time period.

Make the Environment Healthy

There have been many studies which have shown just how much of an impact the location and condition of an employee’s environment can have on their performance. After all, you are asking your workers to spend several hours a day in one location. For that to work effectively, you need to have an environment that is comfortable and meets their needs. For example, is there a kitchen area or a rest space where they can have lunch and take their breaks? Is there adequate heating and cooling to keep the temperature within the office or the work area within reasonable limits? The variables can have an impact not only on your worker’s mood but also on their productivity.

Maintain Morale

An important factor in having a happy workforce is morale, if your workers are unhappy or if there are problems in the office then this can quickly lead to unhappiness and lack of enthusiasm. To counteract this, you need to keep your eye on team morale and also make sure that you are in tune with what your workers want and need. In some cases, this might even mean dealing with individuals who are upsetting the balance within your workforce.

Encourage Feedback

With many companies, their bosses will often ask for their employee’s opinions at interview and perhaps even when they leave their job, but it can actually be of more value if they continually asked their opinion while they’re working. Some bosses confuse this with giving their employees too much power, however, the exact opposite is true. If you are concerned about your employee’s welfare and about the way they’re working you can encourage a great deal of respect and loyalty within your workforce. This loyalty not only ensures that you retain good staff, but it also helps to encourage other high-quality staff to your company by word of mouth.

Hire from Within

Even the most patient employees will soon decide to move on if they feel that their job is going nowhere. You might also encourage people to leave if they are being regularly overtaken by workers below them or bringing in new workers to take jobs above them. Filling vacancies from within your existing staff is a good way to maintain a high level of experience. You also negate the issue of staff getting to know them and understanding the type of personality they are. Some bosses feel that this can promote jealousy amongst staff however if you are giving all the staff an equal opportunity then there should be less of a problem.

Your workers are the most important part of your business besides your customers. For that reason, it is vital that you ensure you get the best from them and you keep them happy and healthy. If you can do this then you will have a workforce that is loyal, enthusiastic, and willing to take on additional work if the business requires it.

Empower Your Employees With Learning… Whatever Your Budget

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As an entrepreneur, you know that your unique combination of passion, talent, skills, training, experience and business acumen are integral to the success of your enterprise. Nonetheless, you also understand that you could not have achieved the measure of success you’ve gained in your enterprise alone. Your great ideas light the way, but the hard work, dedication, passion and ingenuity of your staff also plays a huge role in your business success. As such, your employees deserve every but of support, training, development and guidance you can provide them.

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
 
The trouble is that this invariably comes at a monetary cost to your business. Smaller and newer businesses which are still finding their way and doing their best to keep their heads above water financially are understandably full of trepidation when it comes to spending money at the expense of their all-important profit margins. Fail to invest in your employees, however, and the results could be disastrous.

What happens when you fail to develop your employees

While it’s understandable that new entrepreneurs might be keen to keep a close eye on the purse strings, this may be at the expense of your business. Underdeveloped employees will at best lose motivation, resulting in a loss of productivity or dip in quality of service for your customers. At worst, they may quit your organization altogether, even running into the open arms of your competitors, thereby giving them an edge over you. Even if this doesn’t happen, you will still have to endure the expense and dip in productivity while you recruit and train their replacement.

Let’s take a look at just a few of the ways in which you can give your employees the gift of professional development…

In-house training

If you want to ensure that your employees do things your way, making sure that your customers get such a continuity in service that it’s like you’re dealing with each and every customer yourself. While in-house training can be cost-effective and ensure brand continuity, every now and then an outside perspective is appreciated, which brings us to…

External training providers

The benefit of using external training providers is that no matter how knowledgeable you may be, even the best of us has blind spots in our knowledge. External training providers can bring a fresh outside perspective to your business while also having training and motivational techniques that you may never even have considered. While again this may result in additional expense, it may well be to the benefit of your business.

Online learning or community college

If you worry about a productivity dip while your employees are developed on company time, you may benefit from funding, or part-funding their own learning through community college or online learning. This puts the onus on the employee and gives them the gift of academic or vocational qualifications that can empower them throughout their career. With a plethora of online courses out there from an online rn to bsn program to just about any academic degree you can imagine, online learning is an extremely powerful tool that shows your employees how much you value them.

The only downside is that it may be tricky incorporating their learning into their operational activities in a cohesive way.

An open door

Finally, sometimes the best and easiest form of development comes in the form of an open door. By allowing your employees an opportunity to talk to you and taking the time to explain processes and procedures in a little more detail you can ensure operational excellence while establishing yourself as the kind of boss they can always rely on.