How to Recruit Top Performing Employees For Your Business
How do you recruit top performers for your small business? If you’re like many businesses, you might be relying on resumes being sent in response to job postings, or perhaps you’re using a recruiting firm. However, there are better ways to seek out new talent, like reaching out to them directly. Here’s how you can find valuable employees without having to wait for them to find you.
Use your current employees to find your next new hire
Barry Maher has consulted on hundreds of new hires and this tactic is one of his favorites. Maher suggests motivating current employees to help identify new staff by offering a bonus or incentive, to be given after the new hire has remained on board for a certain amount of time.
According to Maher, “Your current employees know what it takes to do the job. They have a vested interest in bringing in people who will make the workload lighter, not heavier.”
Don’t focus solely on relevant experience and specialized skill sets
If you have a job that needs to be filled, teaching the right candidate will be a relatively pain-free process, regardless of their specific skill sets. The best employees will use all of their skills to learn how to tackle new tasks and projects.
Langley Steinert, the Founder and CEO of CarGurus, understands this theory, explaining, “Your top performers will end up being smart, resourceful, and innovative--three elements that have nothing to do with prior experience.”
Of course, if you need a developer who can code in Ruby, that’s a skill you shouldn’t compromise on. When looking for new hires make a list of the skills you think the position requires, and then carefully vet each skill. You might realize that 7 years of SalesForce experience isn’t a hard-and-fast rule that needs to be followed.
Turn to your personal network to find good employees
Sometimes, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, and this is true when it comes to recruiting employees. Your network of business contacts may already know the perfect employee for your business, and all you have to do is ask. Tools like LinkedIn make this process easier than it’s ever been.
“Hang out” where future employees spend their time
LinkedIn is a great place to start your employee search, but it isn’t the only online tool you can use. Figure out where your future employees are “hanging out” online and meet them there. AngelList, for example, is incredibly useful for finding tech talent. The people who create profiles are generally high performers and entrepreneurial, too. You can even see whether a person is actively looking for a new job.
You can take this search offline as well. Consider attending events through your local Chamber of Commerce, where you could meet your next employee (or perhaps the person who connects you to your next employee.) MeetUp.com also has business-related events, and it’s worth seeing if there are any groups relevant to your industry.
Use multiple methods to find and recruit effective employees
Essentially, all of these concepts and methods for recruiting employees work together synergistically. If you combine these different techniques, building your team can be an exciting and effective process that doesn’t have to leave you with a headache.
