Here’s the scenario: You’ve garnered interest from some of the industry’s top talent – They’ve applied and you’ve interviewed them. Time and time again however, those promising future employees are stolen away by the big dogs. Or maybe you’re in a bit of a tougher situation, and your company hasn’t even attracted the talent you know your business deserves. It doesn’t seem fair that your company should suffer just because you don’t have the brand recognition that some of the industry giants have – But believe it or not, smaller businesses actually have a number of advantages over their bigger competitors. You just have to up your game.
If you want fair play with the big dogs you need a fresh hiring strategy. Check out these tips that’ll get your company started in the right direction:
“Distinguish your company as an industry thought leader.”
1. Automate editorial and social media management
It’s important to distinguish your company as an industry thought leader, but if you’re a small company, you likely don’t have the same budget more established brands would have to spend on a whole editorial or social media team. However, Forbes explained that you don’t need a whole team – you just need to automate your creative efforts. Your company’s content creator should build out an extensive editorial calendar with blog topics and corresponding social media posts. This way you can schedule months worth of content and media to go live whenever you want, and leaves time for your executives to give thoughtful corresponding insight, or leaves you more flexibility to respond to any timely content. Staying active on your company’s blog and social media platforms are major ways to attract prospective employees – The more action you exert, the more you push into your industry and make a reputable business.
2. Maintain your company website
On a similar note, what does your website look like? If you’re keeping your content fresh, you need to be keeping your website updated as well. Even successful companies redesign their website regularly. Consider transportation and logistics company Uber’s recent rebrand. Everything from the logo to the app icon was given a new look, explained Wired. The new bright colors and geometric patterns were updated as such to reflect their evolving brand. Your company doesn’t necessarily need to redo your entire website, but ensuring it matches your company’s story will bring talent to your site and keep them engaged with your content. Many small companies make the mistake of not staying on top of website maintenance, but boring aesthetics is often a huge turn off when talent is trying to decide what company is best for them.
Every detail matters when you’re trying to attract top talent.3. Hire an HR outsourcing company
It might not seem it at first, but smaller businesses have an advantage over big HR departments at large corporations. Bigger companies have the resources to invest in extensive recruiter programs – But you don’t need that. This just churns out a blanketed hiring pool as anyone and everyone applies to said position. Hiring a human resources outsourcing team gives you access to experts who know exactly how to find what you’re looking for, letting your company focus on what you do best. According to Society for Human Resource Management, your hiring strategy is the key to roping in talent. HR outsourcing companies give you the same advantage big brands have with their HR department, as they have multiple agents who come together to make a tailored approach for your company as opposed to a single HR employee’s efforts.
4. Reword your help wanted ad
SHRM also pointed out that bigger companies are at a disadvantage by the way they word their job posts. Everyone’s read a laundry list of required skills and experience, but the source explained that this doesn’t do enough to really do your company justice. Ditch the list and instead narrow down the top performance objectives that are key to the job. A job is deeper than having “extensive knowledge in the Microsoft Office Suite.” Organizing your help wanted ad like this will not only give you more interest in your company, but it will direct the best possible candidates to your doorstep.
