Top 4 Hiring Tips for Small Businesses

How to hire the best people for your small business?

Along with increasing profits and securing industry growth, small businesses face the challenge of hiring new staff. 

The problem? Recruitment is hard work - it can take up a lot of time and you need the right processes to recruit the right people for your company.

Let us help! Apply for a special TalentLyft's Program for Startups and get TalentLyft for up to 80% off!

While hiring can be daunting, there are techniques you can use to establish an effective recruitment process. The right approach can secure you a talented team, which, long-term, could help you to grow as a business.

To help you realize these goals, here are essential tips on how to streamline your recruitment process.

Best hiring tips for small businesses

These top 4 hiring tips will help every small business recruit the best people easier and faster:

Tip #1: Plan your hiring strategy

Hiring is a complicated process and an HR department is desirable to streamline it. This isn’t usually affordable for many small businesses, however, which we’ve noted at Croner can lead to frustration, but hiring can be made easier with an effective strategy.

You should consider the following:

• Business priorities: 
  What new staff do you need? Make sure your priorities are set clearly so you can hire staff who will provide ROI. 
• Complementing your staff:
  Hire new staff with the skills and personality that will complement your team. The right personality is as important as skills - you want your new employee to get on with your existing staff. 
• Costs: 
  Stay within your budget and keep overheads in mind. This could remove some talent from your radar, but you must be realistic about what you can afford. 
• Experience factor:
  Should you get fresh talent or go for experience? It’s a tough decision in modern business. There’s more fresh talent than ever before, which offers small businesses plenty of youthful enthusiasm. It would mean, however, hiring someone with a lack of experience, so choose carefully. 

Tip #2: Spread the word that you’re hiring

Write your job descriptions. Make it clear what you’re looking for - precise job requirements will often be enough for professionals to know whether they’re suitable.

However, include incentives that’ll attract top talent. That way, you will become a magnet for attracting candidates. For example, think of what makes working for your business great and convey this to your prospective candidates. 

You can then spread the word. Place your job description on your website and on popular job sites. Social media can also help you to find talent - by posting on your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts, you can reach younger talent as they’re usually more inclined to use modern job hunting platforms.

You could even set up an employee referral program and offer incentives to your staff. If they help refer a friend, for example, then you could provide a financial reward, some extra time off or another innovative employee referral bonus.

Tip #3: Simplify your interviewing process

You can save yourself (and your candidates) a lot of time by using modern interview processes.

Instead of dragging interviewees down to your office, try spending 10 minutes on FaceTime or Skype with them. This can secure a list of top candidates in half the time.

From there, you can book your second stage interviews. That’s your chance to meet your top candidates and pick through their experience. When they arrive, be professional: arrive on time for them, ask challenging interview questions, and get to know them.

Have they researched your business? Are they enthusiastic? Will they fit into your team? Sometimes an experienced hand might be flitting between jobs, whereas youthful energy might be more suited for you, so drill down to find your ideal match. 

Tip #4: Prepare and test new employees

When the big moment arrives, make your selection and prepare to hire your new team member. Make sure you know how to successfully onboard new employees - you want your talented new professional to feel at home so they can settle in and work to the best of their ability.

However, do remember bad hires are commonplace in the business world. Probation periods are there for a reason and if it’s not to be, it’s not to be - you can move on and learn from your experience to streamline your hiring procedures for future occasions.

Follow these top 4 hiring tips to grow your business

Hiring is a challenge, even for big businesses with in-house HR departments at their disposal. It can be a source of stress and it can be difficult to find and hire ideal job candidates.

➡️ Check out our Ultimate guide for finding qualified candidates! 

Building a successful team is hard work, yes, but if you’re willing to put maximum effort in and adapt to modern processes, you can streamline your strategy and benefit in the long-term.

About the author

Suzanne Tanser is the Reward Manager at HR and reward specialists for Croner. She is a pay and benefits expert who has a long history of working in the legal services industry.