How to Hire the Best Talent for Your Business – Tips and Advice from Pros

‍

Talent is expensive. So, how do you find the best people for your business without wasting a lot of money? For many small businesses, an employee isn’t an option—they don’t have the budget or the space. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean you have to give up on finding great talent. You can still leverage your network and leverage your resources to find top talent for your business. Here are some insider tips on how to hire the best employees for your business:

Be transparent with hiring decisions

Transparency in hiring decisions leads to trust, which in turn results in top talent. Trustworthy employees will be happy to share their valuable knowledge and experience with other opportunities. They’ll also be more apt to work for a company that is transparent with their hiring decisions. Focus on the hiring process itself, not the results. Hiring great talent is a long, drawn-out process, and results aren’t everything. Scores won’t tell the full story. You have to do your due diligence, evaluate applicants on their merits, and consider the big picture when making hiring decisions. Hiring great talent is a long, drawn-out process, and results aren’t everything. Scores won’t tell the full story. You have to do your due diligence, evaluate applicants on their merits, and consider the big picture when making hiring decisions.

Build a culture of transparency

A culture of transparency doesn’t just create transparency in hiring decisions. It also creates transparency in operation. Employees who know they can speak up and say “I’m a mess and I don’t know what I’m doing” are more likely to be transparent about their mistakes and challenges. This, in turn, results in constructive feedback, which can help you improve. That said, a culture of transparency doesn’t mean that everyone knows everything. Hiring managers and executives have to know their jobs, so the culture should be about letting employees know what they need to do, not telling them everything they can do.

Hire and promote from within

When you’re hiring and promoting from within, you’re really doing yourself a favor. By bringing people into your organization who already work there, you not only build trust but also help foster creativity and innovation. Having people who work there and know the ins and outs of your company also provides a great opportunity to learn. You might not end up using their solutions or using them at all, but every chance you get, they’re going to be helping you out.

Ask for recommendations before making hiring decisions

If you’re going to make hiring and promotion decisions on your own, you have to be prepared. That means doing your research and asking for recommendations from people who already knows the person you’re hiring from best. If you don’t know anyone who has applied for a job, you can always ask for recommendations. There are plenty of online resources for finding people to recommend, such as personals and professional online networks.

Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals

Asking for referrals can be extremely effective when done the right way. Be aware of your hiring and promotion needs, and then reach out to the right people. By creating a culture of transparency where employees know they can speak up when they’re in trouble, you’re going to build better employees faster. They’ll be more apt to share their knowledge, and you’ll have more to offer as a company.

Offer competitive benefits

When you’re hiring and promoting from within, you have to be mindful of the people on the bottom rungs of the corporate ladder. They have the least security benefits, the fewest opportunities for raises, and the most pressure to perform. Offer competitive benefits, especially if those benefits are available to all. For example, let’s say you run a coffee shop. You can offer free coffee and donuts to anyone who brings in a new customer. That is absolutely MONEY to make in your coffee shop, and it shows your employees how much you care.

Don’t be afraid to ask candidates for references

Having the ability to ask for references can save you a lot of heartache. If you’re hiring from outside your industry, it’s even more important to make sure you have people who can vouch for you. When someone tells a colleague or friend about your company, ask them to also give you a reference. Let’s say you’re creating a new company website. You can always ask candidates for referrals, but you can also ask for a reference when they send you their portfolio or submit a great proposal.

Wrapping up: Finding the Right People for Your Business

Finding the right people for your business can be a difficult task. It can feel like you’re always looking for new employees, even though you have the perfect people in place. That’s why it’s important to be open-minded and transparent with your hiring decisions. Focus on the people, not the scores. Ask for recommendations, offer competitive benefits, and let the candidates tell you who they recommend. Finding the right people for your business doesn’t mean you have to spend the most money. You can still leverage your network and leverage your resources to find top talent for your business. These tips will help you do just that.