10 useful Tips for Attracting Employees
30 September, 2008
Ah, the glory days when all you had to do to attract employees was to stick a little sign in your window that said "Hiring" and pick a new employee out of the hundreds that applied. Now small business jobs are going begging as demographics and a strong economy combine to create a shortage of qualified labour.
But that doesn’t mean that you should just give up on hiring any new staff because as a small business, you don’t have a chance of attracting employees. All things being equal, there are many people who would prefer to work for a small business. These tips for attracting employees
will up the odds of attracting the people you need.
1. Find out what the going rate is for the position and at least match it.
One common mistake small businesses make when creating a position is to base the salary on their budget rather than on the market realities – in effect making sure that their employee recruitment efforts are going to be unsuccessful. If a retail sales person in a starting position in your area normally makes $10 an hour, why would someone want to accept that position in your company for $9 an hour?
2. Offer an employee benefit program.
In times when employees get to pick and choose, an employee benefit program moves from their wish list to their necessities list. For successful employee recruitment, your company needs to offer employees at least life, medical and dental coverage. If your small business does not have an employee benefits program, talk to your insurance company about setting one up. One of the advantages of belonging to business organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, is that they offer more inexpensive insurance, including employee benefit programs, so check with the organizations you belong to first.
3. Make lifestyle part of your employee recruitment offer.
Many employees are just as concerned about quality of life as they are about the amount of money a position offers. If you’re fortunate enough to be located in an area with great skiing, beaches, extensive hiking/biking trails, excellent golf courses or other attractive features be sure to play them up when you’re trying to attract employees.
4. Emphasize the benefits your small business offers.
Make your company more attractive to potential employees by offering things such as flexible hours and work at home options. Among the more unusual benefits some small businesses offer are being able to bring a pet to work and allowing employees to power-nap during the day.
5. Be creative with perks.
As a small business, you may not be able to offer the perks large corporate companies are able to offer their employees – but you may be able to offer a reasonable facsimile. For instance, many large companies offer on-site health facilities such as a fully equipped gym. Chances are good that as a small business, you’re not going to be able to add one of these to your premises, but you could offer employees coupons to use local gym or spa facilities.
6. Offer employees some way to move upwards.
Most employees aren’t looking for jobs where they’ll do the same thing for the next thirty years. They’re looking for positions that offer opportunities for advancement. What will the position you’re offering offer? The chance to develop new skills? A stepping stone to a position with more responsibilities? More money after a certain amount of time on the job? Whatever it is, in terms of attracting employees, be sure to get the future possibilities on the table.
7. Create an employee incentive program.
Employee incentive programs not only reward good employee performance but give prospective employees something to look forward to if they come work for you. Whether it’s an annual company-paid retreat or a program where employees collect points that they can trade in for cash, employee incentive programs can increase your chances of attracting the employees you want to hire.
8. Institute a profit sharing program.
It’s not for every business, but there’s no better way to give employees a stake in a company’s success. For businesses that look like they’re going somewhere, profit sharing programs can be a powerful inducement to come work for you instead of for someone else.
9. Sweeten the pot.
When competition for employees is fierce, a plain old signing bonus may be what’s needed to attract the employee you want and get that person to work for you rather than for some other company. If you choose to do this, there are two things to keep in mind. The signing bonus has to be large enough to matter, and the signing bonus has to be contingent upon x amount of time of employment. (Otherwise you’ll be running a revolving door as people sign up, take the money and run.)
10. Widen the scope of your advertising.
It’s not enough to Just place an ad in the Help Wanted section of the local newspaper anymore; your chances of attracting the employees you want will be much better if you broaden your adviertising. Place ads in places such as job Web sites and college/university campus boards, for example. Advertise in other towns or cities.
And if you have other employees, don’t forget to get them involved in the employee recruitment hunt. You can, for example, offer signing bonuses to those who successfully refer a new employee.
There are qualified people out there who can do what you need done – you just need to attract them to the positions your small business is offering. Developing an employee recruitment policy based on the tips above will give you a better chance of attracting the employees you’re looking for.
As posted in about.com
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