It’s only natural to want the best for your business, and that starts with finding the best staff possible.
That’s not as easy as it sounds, though. There are a seemingly infinite number of avenues that any hiring manager can take when it comes to identifying the best prospects, and it isn’t easy to know which options will be the best for your business.
That’s why we’ve tackled the hard work for you. We’ve done the research to figure out ten of the best ways to discover the top-quality talent that can take your business to the next level and beyond – simply read on and get to work.
Look internally first
You might not even have to consider external options if you can find the right people within your existing workforce. When it can be expensive and time-consuming to find and hire unfamiliar staff, being able to promote from within can be vital.
Many of your current employees might be interested in your open vacancies to further their careers or because they’re bored of their current roles. In addition, you may also have staff that are perfect for the new position without even realizing it.
No matter the circumstance, you can use methods to make sure that your existing staff feel able to explore their potential: maintain open lines of communication, advertise open vacancies thoroughly, and ask your managers if any staff would be suitable for those vacant roles.
You can rely on your existing employees in other ways, too. Your current staff will have professional and personal networks, and they could well know about someone who’s perfect for your open position – and they could help make the introductions. You could even offer rewards for current staff who recommend new hires. It’s a win for everyone concerned: you keep your staff, hire someone new, and your company will benefit from an improved talent pool.
Create a great culture
No new talent will want to work at your business if it doesn’t have a good culture, and new hires won’t start on the right foot if your onboarding process isn’t slick and refined. If you want to find the best staff, you need to get both aspects right.
Some companies have cultures that reward long hours, and others are more focused on employee wellbeing and a better work/life balance. Some now concentrate on remote work, and you’ll find other companies that prize office life. No matter the culture, though, you’ve got to make sure it’s rewarding and engaging, and you must make your firm’s identity clear to attract staff who share the same values and want to be a part of your team.
And no matter your workplace atmosphere, your new hires need to be onboarded using a welcome, straightforward and informative process, so they feel comfortable straight away.
If you show off your company culture – if you’ve helped create a workplace to be proud of – then you’ll do a better job of attracting and keeping high-quality staff. It’s that simple.
Feel the benefits
Company culture ties in with the range of benefits and perks that a business can offer its staff. Broadly speaking, if you have more generous benefits and workplace perks, you’ll be able to attract talent and keep people from leaving for other positions in different companies.
Bear in mind, though, that no single approach will prove attractive to every potential member of staff. Some will just want better salaries, while others will prefer more comprehensive medical insurance. You’ll find that some employees will respond well to workplace perks like free snacks, while some prefer extra vacation time.
As with culture, it’s a matter of finding the mix of benefits that reflect your company’s ethos and that will attract staff who match that mindsight. And, as with getting the culture right, if you’ve got suitable and generous benefits then you’ll be able to hire better staff and keep more of your existing workforce.
Once you’ve found the right mix of benefits and culture, you need to shout about it – if you show off why your company is such a wonderful place to work, you’ll do a better job of attracting staff.
Nail the job postings
Of course, you won’t be able to fill every vacancy by hiring from within. When you do need some eternal talent, you’ve got to get the process right to get the job done properly.
That starts with your job description. It’s got to be accurate and detailed, of course, and you’ve got to communicate the role clearly, but that’s not all.
If you want the best chance of success, you need to write your job description clearly and leave the buzzwords and business-speak behind. You should discuss your company’s goals and plans so potential staff members know what they’re getting into, and you should list the salary or salary range and the benefits on offer so applicants can make informed decisions about whether to apply.
Your job listings should have a clear, specific job title and include relevant keywords, too, because that will give your listing an SEO boost.
You should explain the hiring process and go out of your way to make your company sound like a fantastic place to work. After all, you’re not just looking for staff – you’re selling your business to potential applicants, too.
Post in the right places
It’s no good having a brilliant job description if you don’t post your advert in the right places. Your company should have a careers page with vacancies listed, of course, but that’s just the start.
You should post your job listing to all the major job boards if you want your vacancy to have maximum visibility. From LinkedIn and Monster to Indeed and Glassdoor, it’ll be beneficial to get as many eyes on your advert as possible.
Savvy hiring managers will look beyond the big sites, though. There are loads of brilliant job boards that cater to particular industries and situations, and they’re always worth using if you want to hunt down the best talent. You might end up using FlexJobs if you want to find remote and flexible staff, for instance, or Ladders if you’re hiring for a position with a six-figure salary. AngelList is an excellent choice for startup hires, and you can use Scouted if you want to prioritize personality ahead of resumes. If you need more guidance here, simply head to our guide on the the best US job sites.
If you’ve got some budget to spend on your hiring process, then it’s also worth spending cash on the extra features provided by many of the big recruitment sites. If you buy better employer packages, you’ll usually be able to post more job listings and promoted adverts, see more data about candidates, and get access to more tools that can deliver better insight and quicker hiring.
Create a great online presence
Your company needs a great culture and a top-notch array of benefits to attract the right people, but that’s not all – you’ve got to match any impressive real-world reputation with a top-tier online presence.
The company needs to be active on all the critical social networks, from LinkedIn and Facebook to Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. If you’re really thorough, think about Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, and even Reddit. Your company should have a slick website and consider articles and blogs to draw industry attention.
If your company is active in cyberspace, it can become a well-known and trusted face in your industry. And if that happens, more potential employees will look twice at your job listings and decide to send an application – because your company will sound like a busy, rewarding, and exciting place to work.
There are professional guidelines to follow here, too. Make sure your message is consistent across your online channels, from the content you post to the branding you use. Develop a proper social plan with clear strategies and goals, and stay abreast of your reviews on sites like Glassdoor so you can spot potential issues.
Develop meaningful relationships
Your business doesn’t operate in a vacuum. You should forge relationships with universities, other educational institutions, and relevant non-profit organizations to network with potential new staff members.
After all, universities have lots of graduates with loads of knowledge, and they’re going to need jobs once they leave education. If you’ve already got a relationship with the university then you’ve got a higher chance of being at the forefront of people’s minds when they’re figuring out their next step.
Many universities hold career fairs – you should absolutely attend these, not least because your rivals will – and many universities advertise jobs on their websites too. Universities are good routes to finding interns, too, and many of those people may eventually take full-time positions at your company.
You can partner with non-profit organizations to do something good in your community while developing relationships with people who may want to work for you in the future, too.
Beyond universities and non-profits, consider going to job fairs in your local area or holding a career day at your own business.
Look outside the box
Resumes dominate the job market, which is understandable – but if you focus on these documents too much, then you’ll inevitably miss out on great candidates.
Your next superstar employee might not tick every box on the job description, and their resume may not be extensive, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth hiring.
If you step away from examining resumes you’ll often find that it’s intrinsic personality traits, skills, and talents that make a candidate worth hiring – rather than what’s written on their resume, or the jobs they’ve done in the past.
Ultimately, though, you need to be willing to look beyond resumes and box-ticking job descriptions if you want to discover people who can do a great job thanks to their personality and potential rather than their previous experience or qualifications.
It’s also worth holding on to resumes and candidate details as you hire for various positions in your business. A candidate may not have been suitable in the past, but they could be the perfect fit in the future.
Ask the right questions
Interviews are a vital part of the hiring process, and you’ve got to ask the best questions possible if you want to make sure that you make the right decision about new members of staff.
That doesn’t just mean asking candidates about their earlier jobs or their professional qualifications. Ask candidates thought-provoking questions about their strengths and weaknesses, about times they’ve succeeded or failed, or about their hobbies and fears. It’s often these questions that will reveal more about a candidate – and whether they’re a good fit for your firm.
Go to the professionals
Finding and hiring staff is difficult, especially if you work in a business where your staff don’t necessarily have loads of experience in that area.
Happily, there are many options if you’d like to outsource some of the processes. You can contract consultants who can help discover the right candidates. Recruitment agencies are a popular and natural step when filling open positions, too, because they often have more experience when it comes to finding potential staffers.
Your company could also outsource its HR to a Professional Employer Organization, or PEO. These firms use in-house teams of experts to take every aspect of the hiring process out of your hands. You can pay companies to only tackle certain aspects of your HR workload, too, or use the best HR software to streamline and automate much of the hiring process yourself. In short, you’ve got plenty of options if you need some hiring help.
Getting the job done
The process of finding and hiring your next top talent can be expensive, confusing, and time-consuming – but it doesn’t have to be.
If you apply these top tips then you can do a better job of finding the best people for your business – and keeping them for the long term. And when your people are vital to corporate success, there’s nothing more important.
Use fewer description restrictions
If you’re putting together a job description for a new role then it’s tempting to list every skill, trait, and qualification you’d like your dream candidate to possess. And while we’d all like perfect applicants for every job listing, that’s unrealistic and could stop people from applying.
Instead, consider removing some of the more peripheral job requirements from your listing before posting it online. Many of these won’t be strictly necessary to get the job done, and if you’re too restrictive then you’re going to dissuade people from applying to your company – they may have many of the skills required, but if they don’t feel like they tick every box then they may not bother to apply.
As well as slimming down your list of strict skills and requirements, consider looking past gaps in people’s employment histories and be more amenable to people who want to change careers. Those gaps often have perfectly rational explanations, and the right employee will learn on the job.
Increase flexibility
Over the last couple of years the world of work has changed dramatically, and one of the biggest developments has been the huge growth in home and remote working – no surprise when we’ve all been subjected to pandemic lockdowns.
Lots of companies are fighting against this trend by trying to get employees to come back to the office, but there’s plenty of evidence to indicate that many people are actually happier and more productive when they’re working at home – or, at the very least, when they’ve got more flexibility in how and where they work.
If you want to attract and retain talent, don’t force people into the office. Instead, let people know that you advocate a flexible, hybrid approach – let people develop their own routines with a mix of office and home working. If you trust staff, they’ll reward you with better work, and you’ll attract a broader and better mix of candidates.
Looking for new staff? Check out our roundups of the best US job sites, best UK job sites and the best free job boards
