The 33 Cent Trick for Recruiting Top Talent. If you're looking to increase your chances of hiring the best in the business in sought after fields like development and design, the internet has lots of tricks and suggestions to offer. How about running StarCraft tournaments at top colleges? Or offering paid surf trips to Costa Rica? If these sort of lavish tricks leave you shaking your head at the laughable notion that your small business could ever afford any hiring tactic to compete with this sort of over-the-top spending, meet Saartje Cromheecke.
A Belgian management professor, Cromheecke recently ran a study that every small business owner with a thirst for top talent and modest budget should know about. Working with a Belgian technology company, Saartje Cromheecke and her colleagues sent out a real job opportunity to 1,997 potential applicants, around half of them via email (as is the industry standard), and half via a hand-written postcard depicting a coffee mug and a blank daily agenda. Yup, you read that right. Tech Jobs: Design, Programming, Rails, Executive, and more. How to Create a Company Culture That People Will Be Excited to Join. Even the smartest business strategy can mean nothing without the talent to carry it out. That's why attracting skilled and motivated employees is so important for companies just starting out. It takes a certain type of person to join a startup.
The ideal candidates can demonstrate risk tolerance and flexibility, as their roles are bound to evolve with the changing needs of the business. Those that combine talent with the ability to roll up their sleeves to get the job done, even if it isn't technically theirs, are the ones you’ll want with you in the trenches. These people are out there, but it can be a challenge to not only find them but also make the case for them to join your business instead of another one.
No two job candidates are alike, but a competitive salary and benefits will be deciding factors for most every prospective employee. Related: How to Attract Top Candidates Without Posting to Job Boards Make it flexible. Give back. Related: How to Hire Superstar Employees. How to Hire the Right Employees for Your Startup. How to Hire Superstar Employees. In his book The Roadmap to Freedom, peak performance expert Chris McIntyre describes how to build a core team of superstars that will help you lead your company to the next level. In this edited excerpt, the author describes his six-step process for finding, hiring and keeping superstar employees. How solid is your current hiring process? One of the best ways to get the right talent on board is to have a trusted hiring process in place. Here's a six-step process you can adopt as is or tailor to meet your needs. Step 1: Define the Knowledge, Skills, and PEAs (People Skills, Work Ethics, and Attitudes) You probably have a good sense of the hard objectives you expect your applicants to achieve, such as a certain percent increase in sales, a certain number of products produced per month, or manage x number of people in accomplishing y tasks.
Every successful small business should have its basic business metrics and key measures. Related: Tips for Hiring the Best Employees. How to Attract Top Candidates Without Posting to Job Boards. In his book The Roadmap to Freedom, peak performance expert Chris McIntyre describes how to build a core team of superstars that will help you lead your company to the next level. In this edited excerpt, the author details the five ways you can uncover superstar candidates offline.
Yes, social media can connect you with potential superstars. But don’t forget about the face-to-face approach either. Here are a few ways you can find superstar talent offline. 1. Here are some questions that might help: Do superstars seek us out? Being the best means you’re less likely to have to battle with the mass of mediocre competitors out there. Related: How to Hire the Right Employees for Your Startup 2. How many contacts do you currently have in your contact list? Don’t be afraid to network in-house, too. Related: 5 Best Places to Find Qualified Talent 3. 4. One of our criteria for hiring people is when they walk into a room, the response of people is “Wow . . . 5. 5 Best Places to Find Qualified Talent. Startup Hiring: How to Craft the Best Job Posting Matches the Job. The employees you hire can make or break your business. While you may be tempted to hire the first person who walks in the door "just to get it over with," doing so can be a fatal error. A small company cannot afford to carry dead wood on staff, so start smart by taking time to figure out your staffing needs before you even begin looking for job candidates.
Begin by understanding the requirements of the job being filled. What kind of personality, experience and education are needed? To determine these attributes, sit down and do a job analysis covering the following areas: The physical/mental tasks involved (ranging from judging, planning and managing to cleaning, lifting and welding).How the job will be done (the methods and equipment used).The reason the job exists (including an explanation of job goals and how they relate to other positions in the company).The qualifications needed (training, knowledge, skills and personality traits). Tap into your personal and professional network.