Seven Savvy Tips For Making Your Next Employee, Your Best Employee

you are hired hiring public domainAlmost 30 percent of the small business owners surveyed in the last NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Report said they had at least one job opening they hadn’t been able to fill.

That was one of the highest numbers reported in the last 40 years.

If you count yourself among those looking to hire, you may have to do a little more to find the ideal employee than you have had to do in previous years. Review these seven tips and see if you’re missing any opportunities to bring your next MVP onto your team.

View recruiting as marketing. You carefully tend to the image and increased reach of your business to enhance your likelihood for boosting sales. You don’t go out looking to make a sale only when your pipeline is empty. Take the same approach to hiring. Make your company appealing and visible to job seekers.

Be active on social media. Broadcast the message that yours is a place where people want to work. Treat current employees right; if you do they will tacitly and overtly communicate that they are happy with their jobs. The vibe will spread.

Develop a great company culture. You need to provide a workplace where people want to be and be a boss people want to work for. If you’re Mr. or Ms. Grumpy, you have a major problem. Not only will it be difficult to recruit people, it will be difficult to retain people. Sometimes it’s the little, inexpensive perks that can create a “cool factor” that makes yours the place to work, like ice cream every Friday or group outings to an occasional sporting event. Be creative.

Let your employees know you have or anticipate having a job opening. Put your needs on your employees’ radars. If you have 10 people working for you, you can have 10 recruiters out scouting candidates for you. Quality people tend to hang out with quality people. If your best workers recommend someone, there’s an excellent chance that the candidate will be a winner.

Make it easy to apply. Honestly, most of the great employees have jobs right now. You need to let them contact you after hours. Savvy companies include a “Work for Us” link on their websites. You could also make it one of the options on your voice mail menu. If a candidate needs to come by after normal hours, make it happen.

Attend local job fairs. One of the smartest things you can do is to always be in the hiring mode. Keep your feelers out. Sometimes it’s wise to hire a fantastic candidate before you have an opening, for the benefit of your company and to prevent the competition from snagging this gem. Even if you don’t hire immediately, maintain contact and cultivate the leads.

Try a temp agency. A lot of wonderful employees have started out as temps. One great quality of people willing to temp is that they aren’t afraid to put themselves out there. They want to work, and that’s the first quality you need for a great employee. Almost everything else can be taught.

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