15 Hiring Strategy Tips for Small Businesses

Hiring is a tough and time-consuming process for any employer, but the challenges are multiplied when you’re the boss. With so many responsibilities and tasks, how can you pull it off with the same efficiency that large corporations enjoy?

We’ve compiled our top tips to help small business owners navigate through this process. Check them out below!

1) Consider outsourcing your talent sourcing.

From accountants to marketers, sourcing staffing for a small business can be time-consuming and expensive. Outsourcing this responsibility could save you both time and money that would have been spent on a dedicated hiring manager or staffer who focuses solely on recruiting staff.

2) Use a combination of multiple platforms.

Educate yourself on the various channels you can use to find talent, such as professional social media sites, job boards, and your own website. Having several options to choose from will give you more qualified applicants and allow you to select the best candidate for your business.

3) Prioritize location.

Hiring talent for far-flung locations can create challenges in logistics, cultural differences, and general time management – especially if it’s a commute that’s several hours long. Also keep in mind that while an employee may be willing to relocate, their family or friends might not be so willing, which could lead them to quit and seek employment elsewhere.

4) Don’t focus too much on the big-name candidates.

It’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to put a lot of pressure on themselves to land a big-name candidate. However, many of these high-profile individuals are already employed and are more likely to be wary about taking a new job rather than risk their current one. Instead, focus your efforts on sourcing and recruiting qualified talent who is willing and enthusiastic to work with you.

5) Pay attention to culture.

While there are certainly benefits to being able to offer perks like health insurance and retirement plans when hiring employees, it doesn’t mean you should neglect other aspects that influence company culture, such as benefits packages and flexible hours. Employees also tend to be more motivated, productive, and generally happier when they have a workplace that fosters an inclusive work environment.

6) Don’t be pressured by industry standards.

The general consensus is that employees in the U.S. currently receive 15 to 18 vacation days per year, with some states like California and New York offering at least 20 paid days off per year, not including sick days or holidays. If you’re offering additional vacation time or other perks during the interview process, you will likely be perceived as providing an exceptional candidate experience – which means more motivation and productivity from your new hires.

7) Don’t be afraid to find new, creative ways to recruit.

It’s a fact that the traditional methods of finding talent, such as posting a job ad or placing an ad on a website, are not always effective at catching the attention of candidates who may be available and interested. You can find help in this area by utilizing social media platforms like LinkedIn and attending networking events. When you go to networking events with the intention of looking for potential candidates, you’ll be more likely to pick up on someone who is qualified, interested, and available.

8) Try not to make promises you cannot keep.

Many small business owners will promise new employees benefits as part of their job offer that they may not be able to uphold in the future if it doesn’t make financial sense for them to do so. For example, an employer may offer a new staff member a wellness package in exchange for higher wages, but after a few months, they find that it’s simply not feasible to continue to provide the benefits.

9) Assess your own motivations.

You might have had the best intentions when you hired new employees, but what happened next is likely to have left employees unhappy and feeling used. As small business owners, you will often find reasons why hiring other people for your company is easier or less work for yourself rather than doing it yourself. However, if you are operating on purely practical and financial considerations like these ones, then hiring new staff members to your company can also be economically inefficient.

10) Don’t be too strict or rigid when it comes to benefits.

Benefits such as healthcare and paid time off, while important for employees, can be somewhat of a burden on small business owners. Finding ways to facilitate and provide these benefits are a good idea for both management and employees to keep morale high as well as create a good corporate culture.

11) Hire for attitude and personality instead of college degrees.

While education is important, you shouldn’t lower the bar just because your new hires didn’t attend prestigious Ivy League universities or even four-year colleges. A good candidate will possess the right personality and attitude, as well as skills and abilities that can be honed further during training.

12) Hire someone as soon as possible.

When you first start your business, it is understandable to want to build up your team gradually instead of hiring new people all at once, but this could leave you with a big workload and little time to spare. Instead, hire one person first so that you have time to get familiar with their work ethic and then hire more if necessary.

13) Look for signs of leadership in your candidates.

If you’re looking for a person to take on a leadership role in your company, be sure that they display good leadership qualities during the interview process. It’s likely that they will have a positive attitude and approach toward their current manager or supervisor, which is a good indicator of how they will work with new managers or team members when hired.

14) Consider your interviewees as potential employees.

Treating every applicant as a candidate for hire (i.e. someone for whom you would like to work with) can lead to long-term success in recruitment and employee retention.

15) Have different benchmarks for each position that you are hiring for.

The skills, mindset, and level of experience required for each role will depend on the nature of the job itself. For example, hiring a marketing manager or client relations manager will need a different set of criteria than hiring a warehouse worker.