Many businesses are struggling to find the right people in this economic environment. Unemployment is at a low of 3.9% meaning there are less people available looking for jobs.
Daniel Wong from The Alternative Board gives a few comprehensive tips that small businesses can use while scouting for talent.
Understand what sets your business apart
A lot of corporate job adverts ask if interviewees have the necessary technical skills required for the job. This is because they’re always looking to hire people who can provide for the role and hit the ground running without much assistance. But a lot of the time, these exact requirements cannot be set by small businesses when they’re looking to hire new people. During these circumstances, Wong suggests small businesses understand what unique aspects set apart their establishment from their competitors.
‘‘It could be because you’re innovative, or you’re smaller and agile…you have flexible working arrangements, or that there’s the opportunity to take on different kinds of work, have more accountability, can be a master at your craft, can work autonomously without someone looking over your shoulder all the time. It could be that people want to work closer to home, or it could be that they’re passionate about the product/service that you do.’’
Wong further explains that while there be many reasons why someone might want to work for your company, it will be difficult for small businesses to stand out from the crowd if their criteria are solely based on financial or technical expertise.
‘‘If you hire them for non-technical expertise reasons like culture and values, then you’re going to need good systems and good onboarding processes for them to learn your way of doing things, how to do the job you are asking for, and they are going to make mistakes, so they’ll need to know what to do if they do make these mistakes.’’
Use non-financial incentives to attract new hires
Define the aspects of your business’s work culture. Companies need to ensure they provide job opportunities that allow people to be the best version of themselves, gain job satisfaction, and have room to make mistakes.
‘‘There’s a lot of research that [says] humans think they’re motivated by finances. And yes, some are,’’ says Wong, ‘‘but overall research shows that people seek mastery, autonomy, and purpose from their work. If you can create a role where people feel they’re excellent at their job, that they don’t need someone looking over their shoulder and that what they’re doing is making a difference to the business, then they’ll stay.’’
Automate, eliminate or delegate
Wong recommends business owners to make a list- automate, eliminate, or delegate. Through this, they can look at what they can do, what they can delegate others to do, what they can automate into the process and what can be eliminated because it doesn’t contribute to the company’s growth.
‘‘When it comes to outsourcing, you can only outsource tasks; you can’t outsource duties and responsibilities. You can’t outsource by telling someone to build your marketing profile for you, build your sales process, or do your financial management. Of course, some people do that, but some consultants specifically do these particular jobs. If you try and outsource a responsibility/ a task, you’re pretty much setting them and your business up for failure.’’