Hiring for Small Business
Dr. John Sullivan
Smaller firms need talent also, but they normally have more limited resources and recruiting expertise than larger firms. If you are a small business owner, here is the way to approach recruiting.
1. Realize that the firms with the best people win.
Most entrepreneurs spend too little time on people issues, even though they are unlikely to beat the competition without better people. The Bulls basketball team won because of Michael Jordan... it wasn't his shoes! If you are to win the war to attract and retain the best, you must adopt new tools and techniques. For example, stop relying so heavily on want ads that have an extremely high cost and a tendency to attract low-quality applicants (in times of high employment). Instead target the very best talent, which generally are currently employed people that are probably not actively looking for a job at the present time. Assume the best candidates are currently employed "passive" job seekers that you need to "swipe" from other firms. Recruiting other firm's top talent requires different tools both for finding them and in order to convince them to say yes.
2. Stop relying on coincidence hires.
What are the odds that the very best candidates are available and reading the want ads on the day you begin recruiting? Don't rely on luck; develop continuous recruiting processes that identify the best talent well before you actually need it. Then build relationships with these candidates over time, because it allows you to learn more about them and to assess them without rushing. Don't hire "strangers"!
3. Recruiting sends them a message about your firm; you have to wow the very best.
You have to make the job exciting and you must continue innovating in recruiting in order to beat other big and small firms in the race for talent. And by the way, top talent differs from the average person. Top people get so many offers that you have to "wow" them with opportunities to grow and learn. They want different things (pay for performance, challenge, control, "open book" management, communication) and they often demand an individualized, continuously updated deal. The best need to be asked, "What would be a better job for you?" and then you have to offer most of what they expect. You also need to coordinate any advertising and PR you do with your recruitment efforts in order to spread the word (i.e. build your employment brand) that your firm is a great place to work.
4. You need better screening tools if you are going to hire the very best.
Many entrepreneurs rely on "gut instincts" to select candidates. Unfortunately their gut is likely to be wrong nearly 50% of the time. Instead, use actual company problems in the interview (verbal simulations) to find out how they will approach your problems after they are hired. Also, stop asking about yesterday in the interview. Ask about possible future problems and the required solutions for your firm.
5. Use technology to find and assess the very best!
The best recruits are net savvy and are already on the net. Use chat rooms, list servers, and web search robots to find the very best. Drop forever the idea that recruitment and hiring must be face to face. Use telephone interviews to assess candidates. Develop exciting web pages that tell a story about your firm in order to excite the candidates and show them you are different.
6. Try these simple but inexpensive recruiting tools.
Have a strong employee referral program
Re-hire your former employees
Ask references for the names of other top people they know
Ask your best customers and suppliers to refer people (or just hire them)
Ask new hires on the first day "who else is good" from their former firm
Ask your current employees "How would I find you again?" and use those techniques and sources to recruit similar people
Reward managers for great hiring and retention
Summary
When you have a small staff delays can cost you and even one hiring mistake can be deadly. So learn how the best larger firms do it and adapt their practices to your firm. Be aggressive and try new approaches. Remember Michael Jordan doesn't read want ads!
Articles
Finding Candidates
- 10 Reasons to Hire Vets
- Hire Older Workers
- Improving Candidate Quality
- Sourcing 101
- Sourcing Candidates Well
- Tips for Building Employment-Related Websites
- U.S. Employ of People with Disabilities: Free Workshops
- Virtual College Recruiting
Interviewing Basics
- 10 Commandments of Recruiting
- 5 Keys to Successful Hiring
- 7 Tips for Successful Phone Interviews
- Behavioral Interviewing Basics
- Contrary Evidence Questions
- Interview Questions: Do's and Don'ts
- Interviewing Opening and Closing Remarks
- Interviews: Common Weaknesses
- Mistakes Amateur Interviewers Make
- Phone Screen Interview Mistakes
- Probing Techniques Explained
- Screening Interviewing: Top 10 Red Flags
- Strengthen the Validity of Your Interviews
- Telephone Interviews: Basics
- Ten Bad Listening Habits of Interviewers
- Types of Interviews
- Typical Probes and Follow up Questions
- What Do Interviewers Need to Know to be Effective?
Interviewing Best Practices
- 7 Keys to Effective Selection Interviews
- A Closer Look at Behavior-Based Interviewing
- Advantages / Disadvantages of Interviewing
- Applying Core Competencies to Selection Interviews
- Are You Really a Behavior-Based Interviewer?
- Assessing Speaking and Listening Skills
- Best Practices in Interviewing Candidates
- Deadly Interview Mistakes
- Death by Interview
- Ensure Hiring Success in Every Situation
- Executive Assessment Should Be Mandatory
- Generational Interviewing
- Hiring Interview + Strategic Applicant Management
- Hold Evening and Off-Time Interviews
- How to Interview a Top Performer
- Improve your Interviewing Techniques
- Interview Questions to Assess Soft Skills
- Interviewing for Ethics
- Interviewing Millennials
- Interviewing: Business or Psychology
- Metrics Interview
- Peeling Back the Onion
- The Positives of Panel Interviews
- Time for Candidate Advocacy?
- Tips for Conducting Successful Interviews
- Two Critical Interviewing Questions
Laws & Documentation
- Applicant Reference Release
- At Will Employment Release
- Avoid Negligent Hiring Mistakes
- Employee Referral Program Metrics
- Fair Labor Standards Act Information
- Four Interview Questions Never to Ask
- Giving Employee References
- Hiring Compliance Guidelines
- Hiring for Small Business
- Interviewing People with Disabilities
- Job Denial Letter
- Legal Issues in Interviewing
- Minimize Employment Risks: Document
- SAMPLE Employment Policy
- SAMPLE Letter: Educational Records Check
- SAMPLE Letter: Reference Check
- Ten Safe Hiring Tools
- What is Negligent Hiring
Line Manager / Recruiting Partnership
- Defending Candidates to Hiring Managers
- Interlocking Core Competency Interviews
- Internal Application Process
- Making Internships Work for You
- Making the Case for Behavioral Interviewing
- Non-Traditional Merit Pay Alternatives
- OFCCP Definition of an Internet Applicant
- Why Managers Shouldn't Do Most Hiring
- Workforce Planning: Strategic Staffing Strategy
Post-Interview
Pre-Planning & Retention
- Bonus or Incentive?
- Brand-Building on a Budget
- Build a First-Rate Hiring Process
- Closing the Deal
- Compensation Plans: An Overview
- Conducting an Exit Interview
- Good Hiring Starts with a Good Job Profile
- Improve the Quality of the Employment Function
- Interview Process Problems
- Interview the Job Before the Candidates
- Job Description Template-Link Pay to Performance
- Linking Pay to Company Performance
- Selecting and Using Salary Surveys
- Succession Planning
- Succession Planning: Identifying Top Performers
- Using a Pre-Interviewing Questionnaire
- Winning the War for Talent
- Worker Shortage by 2010: Preparation
Reading the Candidate
- Beware of Those Who Boast
- Blind Man's Bluff
- Decision, Decisions: Choosing the Better Applicant
- Detecting Deceit in Interviews
- Little White Lies on Resumes
- Suspend Judgment Until the Interview is Over
Recruiting Basics
- College Recruiting Basics
- College Recruiting Essentials
- Cut Down on Interview No Shows
- Discouraging Low Quality Applicants
- Don't Hold Too Many Interviews
- Job Descriptions: Why are they Important?
- New Strategies for Screening Job Candidates
- Preventing Resume Overload with Questionnaires
- Resume Review Basics
- Test Validation Explained
- The Value of Person-Organization Fit
- Three Companies Cut Turnover with Tests
Recruiting Best Practices
- 25 Telltale Signs of the Wrong Candidate
- 5 Overlooked Ways to Hire Winners
- Asking the Right Recruitment Questions
- Attracting Your Competitor's Employees
- BPR.......for Recruiters!
- Candidate Engagement
- Cloud Recruiting
- Evaluate Your Capture Strategy
- Hiring Best Practices
- How Do You Attract and Retain the Best People?
- How to Attract Applicants to Undesirable Jobs
- How to Attract, Develop and Retain Best People
- How to Find and Keep Valued Employees
- Ignorance and the Human Condition
- Onboarding Success Secrets
- Secrets to Non-Profit Hiring
- Selecting Top Management Talent
- Semi-Active Candidates are Best Bets
- Six Core Selling Principles
- Skills Based Recruiting: When, not How
- Smart Choices: How to Hire the Best
- Strategy for Hiring the Best This Year
- The Uses and Misuses of Personality Tests
- Top 10 Employee Selection Mistakes & Solutions
- Treat Candidates with the Carbon Rule